Los Angeles Sports

PHOENIX (AP) ― Here they come again, those small, swift, sharpshooting Phoenix Suns, attempting to defy conventional NBA playoff wisdom, this time against a Los Angeles Lakers team that rolls into the postseason after winning 11 of 14.

The Lakers' late drive on the shoulders of league scoring champion Kobe Bryant has ignited talk of a first-round upset for No. 7 seed Los Angeles against the second-seeded Suns.

"We constantly seem to be in a position where we have to prove ourselves," Phoenix's Steve Nash said after the team's workout on Friday. "That's OK. It's a position we don't mind being in."

Game 1 is Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.

The Suns overcame the loss of Amare Stoudemire and, later, Kurt Thomas to injuries this season to successfully defend their Pacific Division title with 54 victories.

En route, they led the league in scoring, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage and assists.

The Suns are even smaller than last season, when they made it to the Western Conference finals, but this year's version comes at opponents with more speed and more shooters.

Then of course, there's Nash, the reigning MVP who has better statistics this season in almost every category.

Phoenix is 7-0 against the Lakers with Nash in the lineup the past two years. When Los Angeles closed the season by winning five in a row, its home-court win over the Suns came with Nash and Raja Bell sitting out the game.

That's what led the Suns' Shawn Marion to scoff at the notion that the Lakers will win the series.

"At the end of the day, it's up to us," he said. "We know what we're capable of. We have to prove everybody wrong again. It doesn't matter. It's like the same song, same story."

The only losses the Lakers had over their last 14 games were on the road against the three division champions -- San Antonio, Denver and Phoenix.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson was studying tape of his team's games against the Suns to develop a plan for Sunday.

"We will look at things we have done against them," he said, "and we will try to see how we can exploit their defense, exploit their size, and eliminate some tempo they create."

Bigger is supposed to be better in the playoffs, and everybody has an inside advantage over Phoenix. The Lakers' success could ride not only on Bryant's scoring assault, but on contributions around the basket from Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown as well.

"Now it is time to really hone it in and focus," Brown said. "Everyone talks about how great coach Jackson is in these types of situations in the playoffs and teaching, so I am just eager to get in the film session and see what he has for us."

Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni believes his team has pretty much seen every defense possible over its last two high-scoring seasons.

"People are not going to stop what we do, I do know that," he said. "Now, we could stop ourselves. We could have an off game. It's not going to be what they do. It's `Can we perform at our level?' and I think we can. Then we're going to have to get some stops, get some rebounds and we'll go a long ways in the playoffs."

A similar statement could be made for Bryant, who averaged 42.5 points in the regular season series against Phoenix, including 51 points on April 7, a record for U.S. Airways Center (formerly America West Arena). But the Suns won that game 107-96.

Most of those points came against Bell, one of the most annoying defenders in the NBA.

Bell's intense play irritates opponents and led to a technical foul against Bryant in that game.

Afterward, Bryant refused to even acknowledge Bell.

"I've got bigger fish to fry than Raja Bell," Bryant said then. "Are you kidding?"

The Suns' strategy was to get Bryant so consumed in taking his game to Bell that it would detract from the overall outcome of the contest.

"We were going to try to engage him in a 1-on-1 battle and let him shoot as many times (as) he wanted and hope that the rest of his team won't be able to help, and that's what happened," Bell said. "In a series like this, you have to understand that and be professional enough to be able to deal with somebody who can score that much."

The Suns wouldn't mind if Bell got Bryant all worked up again.

"Hopefully I can get him engaged again and he wants to score 80 on me," Bell said, "If he scores 80, maybe they win, but if he scores 60, maybe we do."

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)