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Lakers News: Win Over Suns Still Reflects Badly On LA, Pundit Claims

A win is a win.

Caleb Nguyen

In this story:

Your Los Angeles Lakers needed a miraculous fourth quarter to come back and get their first win of the year on Thursday night. 

LA faced off against a short-handed Phoenix Suns team in their home opener, but struggled until clutch time where LA eventually pulled away late into the game. 

Former Duke standout Jay Williams, now an ESPN analyst, isn't exactly pleased with the positive result, claiming that the Purple and Gold shouldn't have made it close to begin with considering the circumstances. 

Kevin Durant didn't have either of his All-Star teammates in the contest but he didn't need them in his first individual matchup against LeBron James in five seasons. 

The Slim Reaper made up for lost time in a big way as he scored nearly 40 points and surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon on the NBA's all-time points list. 

It was James who made the late-game headlines as he met his Hall of Fame adversary's challenge with clutch plays down the stretch to will LA to victory. 

Two clutch layups stuck the dagger in Phoenix's heart but Williams may have a point to his argument. 

Darvin Ham already discussed a minutes restriction for the 38-year-old James but bypassed those plans in LA's second game of the year. 

James started and finished the fourth and it's likely the purple and gold don't win the game without him. 

Anthony Davis bounced back from his season opener with a 30-point double double but issues remain for the rest of LA's roster. 

Both D'Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent didn't do much as James had to play point guard for the team down the stretch. 

For a team that wants to save LeBron for playoff time, the early indications are that they'll need heavy regular season minutes from him to even make it there. 

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Caleb Nguyen
CALEB NGUYEN

Caleb is a recent graduate of Cal Poly Pomona with his B.S in Communications through Multimedia Journalism. Always having a deep love of sports, sportswriting has always been a passion of his.

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