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 GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- Was that the Lakers, or the other team from Los
Angeles?
Jason Kidd was at his best, Cliff Robinson buried his reputation
as a playoff no-show and the Lakers looked nothing like the NBA's
powerhouse Sunday as the Phoenix Suns stayed alive in the Western
Conference semifinals with a 117-98 rout of Shaq & Co.
The Lakers hadn't given up this many points all season.
|  | | Clifford Robinson dunks over Shaquille O'Neal for two of his career playoff-high 32 points Sunday. |
"A team like ours that's built on defense, it's pretty
ridiculous," Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said.
Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't talk to reporters, and coach Phil
Jackson said only two sentences in the post-game news conference,
using coarse language to describe his team's performance, but still
offering Mother's Day wishes.
"We got a royal ass-whipping out there," Jackson said. "I
really have nothing to say, no questions to answer, except happy
Mother's Day to all you mothers out there."
Kidd had his first playoff triple-double and Robinson, who
nearly sat out the game after spraining his right ankle in Game 3,
scored a career playoff-high 32 points.
"I felt like I could push the ball," Kidd said, "and my legs
felt good. My ankle's not bothering me, and the shot was dropping.
I was more aggressive, and for that, we got a lot of wide open
looks, and we knocked them down."
Kidd, who has 31 career regular-season triple-doubles, had 22
points, a career playoff-high 16 assists and 10 rebounds.
"He was phenomenal," Suns coach Scott Skiles said. "He was
all over the court, pushing the ball, making great decisions. He
had 12 assists at halftime. Anybody who was open, he got them the
ball, and he knocked down his shots. He looked like Jason Kidd."
Rodney Rogers added 17 points and Penny Hardaway had 16 for the
Suns, who beat the Lakers for the first time in eight tries.
The Lakers still are up 3-1 and can clinch the best-of-seven
series with a victory at home Tuesday night, but this was an ugly
Sunday for them.
Their frustration bubbled to the surface in the last few minutes
of the game. Rick Fox was thrown out and Jackson got caught up in a
battle of calling timeouts with Skiles in the last minute.
"When good teams lose, they get angry," Hardaway said. "They
didn't want to give us one lick of credit so they just started the
Rick Fox thing and then the timeouts. That's just total disrespect
for us. If they felt we had beat them, they wouldn't do that."
Phoenix led by 23 points at halftime and by 29 in the third
quarter.
O'Neal, in foul trouble most of the game, scored 24 points,
eight below his playoff average, and was 4-for-12 from the free
throw line, 1-for-9 in the first half. Bryant scored 23 points for
Los Angeles and Glen Rice added 15.
"We don't look at them as this dominating defensive team,"
Hardaway said. "I mean, we've been getting to the basket all
series long. That hasn't been the problem. The problem has just
been stopping Shaquille in the middle. Today we did a better job of
that. He didn't have 37, and we won."
O'Neal drew his fourth and fifth fouls in a nine-second span and
went to the bench with 4:07 left in the third quarter.
He returned in the fourth quarter and capped a 10-1 run with a
stuff to cut the lead to 101-85 with 6:47 to play, the closest Los
Angeles came to a rally all day. But Kidd and Robinson returned,
Rogers scored twice and any doubt about the outcome was over.
Kidd, playing with two screws in the left ankle he broke on
March 22, had been shooting 29 percent in the series and was
1-for-9 in Phoenix's 105-99 loss in Game 3 on Friday night.
This time, he was 8-for-13 from the field and made four of six
3-pointers. In one 37-second stretch, he had a rebound, assist,
steal and 3-pointer to give Phoenix its biggest lead, 89-60, with
4:25 left in the third.
Phoenix led 71-48 at halftime, the most points scored against
Los Angeles in a half and tied for the most scored by Phoenix in a
half all season.
"That's one of those nightmares, man," Rice said. "We're a
very capable team. Something like that should never happen. We've
just got to hope it never does again."
Robinson said he came close to not playing because of his sore
ankle.
"Very close," he said, "but at the same time I made the
decision before the game that I was going to give it a go."
Robinson had 23 points in the first half, including going 3-of-5
from 3-point range. His previous career playoff-high of 30 came in
Game 2.
"People have said that he's never shown up in the playoffs,"
Kidd said, "but hopefully these last two series have quieted his
critics. I think the older Cliff gets, the better he gets. He's
like wine."
The Lakers are 1-3 on the road in the playoffs.
"It's good that we have the confidence we have to play at
home," Bryant said. "But at the same time you have to enjoy
killing teams. I don't know if we as a whole really enjoy watching
teams bleed.
"The good thing about it is they have to come back to LA. No
matter what they do, they've still got to come back to the City of
Angels, where we're very comfortable."
Game notes
The Suns' 38 points in the first quarter were their most in
the 2000 playoffs by six. ... In the first quarter, the Suns'
backcourt of Kidd and Hardaway combined for 17 points and 11
assists. Kidd had 10 points and eight assists. ... The Lakers
haven't swept a playoff series since 1991 and haven't swept a
seven-game series since 1989. ... The previous most points given up
by Los Angeles in a half was 66 at Washington on Dec. 14 and in a
game was 114 at Sacramento on April 14. ... The entire Lakers' team
had 12 assists in the first half, the same as Kidd.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
New York 91
Miami 83
Utah 88
Portland 85
Phoenix 117
LA Lakers 98
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Scott Skiles looks forward to preparation for Game 5.
wav: 95 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Glen Rice says the Lakers' defense was MIA on Sunday.
wav: 67 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Ron Harper is disappointed with the Lakers defense.
wav: 99 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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