The Los Angeles Lakers returned to action on Monday night when they hosted the Phoenix Suns at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers were going for their eighth straight win but were also facing an underrated team in the second night of a back-to-back. With that being the case, they were blown out 125-108 to drop to 15-5 on the season.
Luka Doncic got the Lakers started with four quick points and then a great pass to Austin Reaves for a corner 3-points. LeBron James then got involved offensively with a layup to give L.A. an early 15-9 lead.
Dillon Brooks, who always takes matchups with James and the Lakers seriously, had six early points for Phoenix. The two superstars on the floor, Doncic and Devin Booker, then spent the rest of the first quarter exchanging buckets. Doncic had 20 points in the first quarter while Booker had 11 and the game was tied at 31 going into the second.
As is usually the case, James and Reaves ran the Lakers offense to begin the second and ripped off five quick points. L.A. was not able to gain any separation though as the Suns responded with a 7-0 run to regain the lead and force a timeout.
After his strong first quarter, Booker went back to the locker room and was eventually ruled out for the night with a groin injury. Brooks picked up the scoring load while he was out though and the Lakers were committing some careless turnovers. That continued through the end of the first half as the Suns took a 66-52 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter was a lot of the same for the Lakers as they looked tired while the Suns were playing with high energy. Led by Brooks, Phoenix was making tough shots while L.A. struggled outside of Doncic.
The Lakers weren’t able to make any push in the third quarter despite multiples timeouts from JJ Redick and eventually went into the fourth trailing 96-77.
If the Lakers were gonna make any sort of run to get back in the game it would’ve needed to come early in the fourth. They began the quarter with four straight points but then got careless with the ball once again. Collin Gillespie took advantage and got hot from deep, extending the lead to 24 and effectively putting the game out of reach.
The only intrigue in the closing minutes was if James could get a couple of buckets to keep his double figure streak alive, and he accomplished that before heading to the bench.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will now head out on a tough three-game road trip that begins with a back-to-back against the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
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