The Los Angeles Lakers earned a big win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, defeating them 122-111 to snap a nine-game losing streak against their division rivals.
The biggest difference in this one was the Lakers’ ability to get to the free throw line as they went there 46 times, making 36 of them, compared to only 20 attempts for the Suns.
Anthony Davis led the way for the Lakers with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists, scoring 14 of those points in an explosive third quarter after a quiet first half.
It wasn’t just Davis that got the job done for L.A. as D’Angelo Russell also had a strong game, hitting big shots whenever the Lakers needed it.
Russell finished with 26 points and six assists, shooting 9-for-13 from the field and 3-for-6 from deep. He had the crowd energized all night, pumping them up after every made shot.
Coming off a career night on Sunday against the Orlando Magic, Austin Reaves followed it up with another strong game as well.
Darvin Ham made the decision to insert him into the starting lineup ahead of Malik Beasley, and it worked as Reaves had 25 points, four rebounds and a career-high 11 assists in the win.
As has been the case a lot lately, he was able to get to the free throw line a lot and knocked down 12 of his 13 attempts.
Some other Lakers played well on the night, including Jarred Vanderbilt and Dennis Schroder. The former played solid defense on Devin Booker despite being in foul trouble and finished with 13 points and five rebounds on a perfect 5-for-5 from the line.
With Reaves entering the starting line, Schroder ran the Lakers’ second unit and had 13 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists while knocking down all six of his free throw attempts.
When Booker wasn’t being guarded by Vanderbilt, he was able to score at will which is why he finished with a 33-point night on 11-of-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds and five assists.
Up next for the Lakers…
The Lakers have arguably their most important game of the season on Friday night when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7:30 p.m. PT.
At 36-37, the Lakers are currently tied for ninth in the Western Conference with nine games to play. Oklahoma City is one of the teams in front of them at 36-36, and with the teams splitting the first two matchups, whoever wins on Friday will take the head-to-head tiebreaker.
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