It is often said you can lose a game early just as easily as you can lose it late, and Sunday's game in Phoenix is proof of that.
After trailing by as many as 20 points and giving up a season-high 45 points in the 1st quarter, the Lakers battled nearly all the way back to get within four points, but were never able to get over the hump in a 123-113 loss to the Suns. The game drops the Lakers into the 10th seed in the West and further separates them in the loss column from the teams in the chase for the 6th seed.
Normally, a loss to the Suns means that at least one of the Kevin Durant and Devin Booker duo had a big game, but that was not necessarily the case in this one. While they both did score over 20 points and combined for 43 overall, it came on 15 of 38 shooting as neither never quite found their full range or got on track to a level that is usually expected.
Instead, it was the Suns role players who almost universally stepped up in this one, with Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, and Jusuf Nurkic all scoring in double figures, and hurting the Lakers with their offensive contributions.
Allen and O'Neale were snipers from behind the arc, both knocking down six three-pointers on a combined 22 attempts. Allen led the Suns with 24 points overall, mixing in some drives with his long-range shots to take advantage of the space allowed to him. O'Neale, meanwhile, scored 20 points overall and added 10 rebounds (9 defensive) to play a strong two-way game in which he made the Lakers rotating defense pay on one end and then helped finish off defensive possessions with key rebounds on the other.
As for Nurkic, he scored 18 points and grabbed 22 rebounds -- including seven on the offensive end -- to give the Suns life on the interior offensively. Nurkic set good screens and rolled to the hoop strong, making himself available for quick passes when the Lakers sent extra defensive help towards Booker and Durant at the point of attack. And when Nurkic didn't get the ball, he set up shop deep in the paint, using his bulk and wide base to wall off space in the paint and grab offensive rebounds. The Suns scored 22 second chance points on their 14 offensive rebounds, much of that work done by Nurkic.
On the Lakers end, they were led by their trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and D'Angelo Russell, all of whom scored 20 or more points. LeBron led the way with 28 points on 12 of 19 shooting, to go along with 12 assists and seven rebounds. LeBron worked both the interior and the arc, connecting on three of his six attempts from deep while mixing in strong drives, post ups, and open court dunks to get points in the paint.
As for AD, he did not see a lot of offensive touches in the first half, taking just four shot attempts in the first two quarters and scoring four points in the process. In the 2nd half, however, Davis was much more involved and turned those touches into scoring chances to finish with 22 points on 11 of 17 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks. Davis did pick up two early fouls that impacted his first half minutes, but the team's inability to get him the ball clearly played a part in the team's inability to keep pace offensively early in the game.
Russell, meanwhile, scored 20 points on eight of 14 shooting, including connecting on half of his eight attempts from behind the arc. Russell would add seven assists and three rebounds, helping to keep his teammates involved as he typically does. Russell's aggression and shot creation for both himself and his teammates were critical in the team clawing back into the game after their flat first quarter, and if it weren't for a couple of threes that just rattled out, he might have helped turn the game all the way in the Lakers' favor.
Alas, it was not to be. In a game where the Suns secondary scorers and role-players really stepped up, the Lakers simply did not get similar production on their end. Austin Reaves (14 points) and Rui Hachimura (13 points) had fine production, but Reaves' efficiency was not where it could have been (two of seven on threes) and Rui simply did not get the volume of shot attempts that he could have (five of nine shooting overall) in his 26 minutes.
The Lakers bench also scored just 16 points as a group, with Taurean Prince (eight points, three of 10 shooting, -13 in the boxscore) and Spencer Dinwiddie (three points, one of five shooting) combining to score 11 of those points in nearly 51 minutes of court action between them. It's impossible to know whether different minutes distribution would have changed the outcome in this one, but Max Christie played well in his lone four-plus minute shift in the 3rd quarter (and was a +4 in the boxscore), offering solid positional defense with his perimeter size. Rui, meanwhile, held up fairly well defensively vs. Durant in his possessions defending him and scored efficiently in his own chances. In a game in which the Lakers could have used a bit of additional offensive punch and defensive size on the wing, the opportunity for both to make a bigger impact was a possibility.
That was not how it went, however. And, so, the Lakers head back to Los Angeles down a game they surely wanted in the hopes of putting a dent into the standings. They will look to get back on track Wednesday when they play the Clippers as the visiting team.