The Los Angeles Lakers traveled to take on the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, looking to get back on track after losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the Emirates NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The Lakers were also looking to bounce back from a recent blowout loss to the Suns in L.A., and they were able to do exactly that, using a 24-0 spurt to come back and earn a 116-114 victory.
Marcus Smart got the start in the place of the injured Austin Reaves and made an immediate impact with a lob to Deandre Ayton and then a steal and layup.
As is usually the case, things got chippy between LeBron James and Dillon Brooks early with the latter picking up a technical foul. Deandre Ayton was active early on both ends of the court with the Lakers jumping out to an eight-point lead.
That was short-lived though as the Lakers got careless with the ball with LeBron James committing some silly turnovers. Led by Jordan Goodwin, the Suns took advantage and flipped the script with a 10-0 run to lead 36-31 at the end of the first.
Jarred Vanderbilt, who has been out of the rotation the last few weeks, got an opportunity to begin the second quarter and made an immediate impact defensively. He sparked a run to get the Lakers back within one.
Turnovers continued to be a problem for L.A. as Luka Doncic and James combined for 11 of the team’s 13 in the first half. James got fouled at the buzzer though, which was Brook’s fourth in the first half. After the free throws, the Lakers and Suns went into the halftime locker room tied at 62.
It continued to be chippy between James and Brooks to begin the third quarter, this time with the former picking up a technical after he was angry that the latter slapped the ball at him after the whistle. Shortly after, James took a charge on Brooks, who had to go to the bench with five fouls.
The Lakers were dominating the offensive glass, but they couldn’t take advantage as they missed a number of good looks. They eventually broke through with an 11-0 run powered by their defense with a three-point play by Jaxson Hayes on a monster dunk regaining the lead.
After Gabe Vincent beat the buzzer, the first triple by either team in the third quarter, the Lakers took an 86-77 lead into the fourth.
L.A. carried the momentum into the final quarter as Vanderbilt had a blocked leading to a layup by James to take a double-digit lead for the first time.
With the Lakers locked in defensively, the Phoenix offensive drought continued and all of a sudden the run had stretched to 24-0 after a James triple.
Hayes had another big dunk on an alley-oop from James and then Vanderbilt hit a corner 3 for good measure, although the Suns kept fighting and got it back to single digits. The Lakers were threatened as a Brooks midrange jumper and pair of triples by Colin Gillespie got the lead down to just two after a 12-0 run.
In need of a bucket, James drove the lane and scored at the rim. Phoenix fought all the way back though as after a pair of free throws, a miss by Marcus Smart, and a Brooks triple, they took a one-point lead.
When he was celebrating though, Brooks nudged James again and was called for a technical foul, getting ejected from the game.
James missed the technical free throw, but he then was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 3.9 seconds to play. He made two of three to go up by one point, and the Suns missed at the buzzer.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will get a few days off before they return to the court on Thursday night on the road against the Utah Jazz.
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