LOS ANGELES – Sometimes a really good quarter is enough.
The Lakers opened the new decade with a bang, scoring a season-high 43 points in the initial quarter and displaying some of their best defensive chops. And despite a less-than-stellar second half, L.A. defeated the Suns to improve to 18-0 against teams below .500.
“This is not the only time, we have to do a better job throughout the season at holding big leads but still with that we had a dominant performance in the first half,” head coach Frank Vogel said.
This was truly a tale of two halves, as the purple and gold easily turned defense into offense – dropping 74 points before halftime and holding Phoenix to just 41.
Simply put, everything worked. The Lakers made their first 11 baskets and 15 of their first 17 – grabbing offensive rebounds on their first couple of misses.
LeBron James almost had a triple-double at the half. Avery Bradley (season-high 18 points on 9-for-11 from the field) looked unstoppable on offense and was a menace on passing lanes. JaVale McGee had tentacles everywhere and would finish the night with 3 blocks and a steal.
For a while, it was all fun and games:
The Suns eventually reacted and got as close as 7 points in the final few minutes of the 4th quarter.
The second unit couldn’t quite contain a surging Phoenix team, and the defense lost the effectiveness and oomph of the first half.
Kyle Kuzma was the exception, once again providing offense off the pine. The third-year forward from Utah, sporting a new hairdo, had several contributions on the defensive end and scored 19 as well – including this violent baseline dunk:
James eventually got his triple-double (31 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) and Anthony Davis added 26 and 11, yet they both had to check back into the game to ensure its outcome.
They ended up playing 38 minutes apiece, helping the Lakers improve to 27-7 on the season.
“They played a lot harder than we did in the second half… but ultimately we were able to finish the game so that's the most important thing,” Bradley said.