The Los Angeles Lakers became all too familiar with Leandro Barbosa after the "Brazilian Blur" came of age in Game 6 of their tense first-round NBA playoff series against the Phoenix Suns a year ago.
Since then, Barbosa's game and confidence have been on the rise. As the fastest of the high-speed Suns -- and a leading candidate for the NBA's sixth man award -- Barbosa should play a major role when the Lakers and Suns open their rematch series today.
"I can bring speed for the team," Barbosa said after the Suns worked out on Friday. "This is what we want to do. Coach wants us to speed the game. They're going to try to slow down to the way they like to play, but we cannot let that happen. We've got to be fast on the court."
Barbosa was fast when he came to the Suns in 2003, but it took a while for his game to catch up.
He improved steadily and was thrust into the US spotlight a year ago when the Suns played at Los Angeles in Game 6, trailing the best-of-seven series 3-2. Raja Bell was suspended for the contest for throwing Kobe Bryant to the court the previous game, leading to Barbosa's first playoff start.
He went on to score 22 points on 7-for-9 shooting as the Suns won in overtime. In the process, he took an elbow to the mouth from Bryant, went to the locker room for four stitches on his lip, then came back and finished the game.
"The coach put me in a situation where I'm supposed to play and I think I did a great job, especially because we didn't have Raja," Barbosa said. "I think what I had in my mind was to be aggressive and everything will be good."
He kept it up in Game 7, scoring 26 points on 10-for-12 shooting as the Suns won in a rout to take the series 4-3.
Barbosa came to the Suns thanks to a trade with San Antonio that brought Phoenix the 28th, and final, pick in the 2003 draft. The Suns chose Barbosa, then a skinny 20-year-old who barely spoke a word of English.
The transition to living in Arizona was difficult.
"It was tough, especially for me to get comfortable on the court because I couldn't speak with anybody," he said.
"Now it's totally different. I can understand and speak it. I'm very happy," he said.
Over time, Barbosa said he learned English by "just listening and asking people what does that mean."
After scoring 20 or more points four times in last year's playoffs, Barbosa's game and role expanded this season.
"That's what he brings on both sides of the floor -- speed that's hard for people to handle," coach Mike D'Antoni said.
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