TURKEY BOUND – Bryant torches Suns as Lakers win Game 1 in West finals

LOS ANGELES (2010 FIBA World Championship) - When Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are hot, there’s no stopping the Los Angeles Lakers.
 
Such was the case in Game 1 of the NBA's Western Conference finals as Bryant poured in 40 points and Gasol scored 21 to lead the defending NBA champions past the Phoenix Suns, 128-107.
 
Bryant hit the 40-point plateau in the play-offs for the 11th time in his career.
 
The Team USA star drilled 13 of his 23 shots from the floor, including three of six from long range.
 
Spain’s Gasol, the MVP of the 2006 FIBA World Championship, did his damage on 10 of 13 shooting from the floor while Lamar Odom, another member of the USA Basketball national team squad for 2010-12, dominated with 19 points and 19 rebounds.
 
The result has sent Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry back to the drawing board.
 
"They played great, one of the best games I've seen them play in the play-offs this season," Gentry said.
 
"Kobe kind of controlled the whole game. I thought we could have withstood the game that he had ... but when he's making his jumper like that, there's not a whole lot you can do about it."
 
Slovenia’s Goran Dragic, the back-up point guard of Phoenix who will play at the FIBA World Championship this summer, played 20 minutes and finished with 13 points on five of eight shooting.
 
Brazil's Leandro Barbosa will also play for his national team in Turkey.
 
He made five of seven shots inside the arc and ended up with 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
 
FIBA