Suns still look like themselves in loss to Lakers

The Phoenix Suns’ 123-116 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was the second time in two tries they were unsuccessful in attempting to put the past behind them.

Like their season opener, this was the hope of the new Suns trying to overcome the resurfacing of their worst habits last season. Phoenix scored 38 points in the first quarter, supplied by 15 assists on 16 baskets, including eight 3-pointers. Los Angeles was extremely committed to the first effort on defense and incredibly uninterested in the follow-up trying that had to occur, a malaise the Suns pounced on with excellent paint touches and ball movement.

Phoenix’s lead in the first half grew to as many as 22 points before, yep, the turnovers returned. The Suns had 13 giveaways in the opening half, kindly rolling out the red carpet on the Lakers’ path into the game and helping them cross the street first for good measure. L.A. had 19 points off those, trailing by just nine at the half. The careless passing, especially by Jusuf Nurkic, was lazy considering how easy it was to break down the Lakers’ defense for better passing opportunities.

Unsurprisingly, the Lakers came out of halftime with far more energy, and a 16-6 run in under four minutes to begin the third quarter put them in the lead. Much like Wednesday when poor performances from the stars let a game that should have been put away early stay live, the turnovers created the same effect and put this contest into, “Well, anything can happen now” territory for one that should have been over. For all the concern about the fourth quarter and the Suns closing out games, they are 0-for-2 in doing so before that even would have been necessary.

Phoenix was down two entering the final frame and mistakes continued to compound for Nurkic. Mason Plumlee had four fouls at the time and rookie Oso Ighodaro is too small to face the Lakers’ frontcourt as a 5, so the Suns went small with Durant and Dunn as the frontcourt. Phoenix’s offense was Durant handling and looking for the right matchup, the exact pace Phoenix should avoid as much as possible. Durant was fantastic to this point but the Suns were winning because of pace in the half-court especially.

That and some slippage defensively saw the Lakers extend their lead to 10. Ighodaro was inserted as the 5 shortly after with Anthony Davis on the bench. Plumlee checked in when Davis did at 7:25 remaining and Phoenix down nine.

Seven points from Tyus Jones briefly revived the Suns’ offense, but Phoenix’s defense was starting to trail off, briefly losing focus or not extending for that extra effort. The Lakers jumped all over that to go up a dozen at 6:07 to go. Phoenix at its best will not be winners if it relaxes defensively like that in key stretches and it is nowhere close to even being that good offensively yet to fall into that trap. Phoenix went back to Durant at the 5, with no Nurkic the rest of the way.

The Suns got it within six at under two minutes to go before an open Rui Hachimura drained a 3 off everyone collapsing on a post touch for LeBron James.

Devin Booker looked like himself with 10 points in the first quarter before quickly falling out of rhythm, ending up 9-of-21 from the field with 23 points. To a similar point, Bradley Beal was terrific in the first half before the ball hardly found him in the second half. He handed out a team-high nine assists with 15 points (6-of-14) while Durant scored a team-high 30 points. These are the departments where the implementation of point guards should be helping, and the sooner the continuity process evolves the better.

This did not feel like an ultra-impactful Anthony Davis night but he took 17 free throws to match the Suns and wound up at 35 points, eight rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocks. Austin Reaves’ shot-making was great with 26 points, eight assists and three steals.

Phoenix had 35 assists in the game and shot 17-of-37 (45.9%) from 3, matched well by L.A.’s similar efficiency on 14-for-27 (51.9%). The Lakers were +14 on the foul line.

Grayson Allen was a late scratch for this game due to personal reasons. Allen shared on social media in the offseason that he and his wife Morgan are expecting their first child. His absence resulted in more minutes for Royce O’Neale and Dunn, who both played very well.

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