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Lakers News: Suns Snuff L.A.'s Streak, Win 115-105

Another amazing Anthony Davis game was not enough in Phoenix.

Alex Kirschenbaum

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Last night, your Los Angeles Lakers' three-game win streak came to an end against the Phoenix Suns (wearing really weird alternate jerseys), despite yet another Herculean effort from Anthony Davis.

The Brow scored 37 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the floor and 15-of-16 shooting from the free-throw line, grabbed 21 (!) rebounds, swatted five blocks, swiped five steals, and dished out two assists.

Per the NBA, Anthony Davis is the first player since Charles Barkley in 1988 to have notched 35 or more points, 20 or more boards, and five or more steals in a game. Only one other Laker has ever achieved single-game numbers like this, and he did it five times because he was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In the contest's first quarter, the Lakers played sloppily on offense (they shot 40% from the floor and made none of their five triple attempts), but their stellar defense limited Phoenix to 43.5% field goal shooting. There were hints of what was to come for AD, as he scored seven points, pulled down seven rebounds, had two blocks, dished out his only two dimes of the night, and snagged one steal.

Here's one of those rejections, wherein Davis managed to seal off All-Star Suns shooting guard Devin Booker on a layup attempt:

Starting Lakers swingman Lonnie Walker got cooking early too, with a typically athletic play beneath the rim.

Walker and Austin Reaves have been, pretty handily, the Lakers' best non-Hall of Fame players this season. But they are not without flaw. Watch them both bite on this pump fake from Devin Booker, who has all the time in the world to dish the rock to Mikal Bridges. The Suns wings scored a combined 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting (Bridges went 3-for-3) in that initial period:

The Suns carried a small 26-22 lead into the second quarter.

In that second frame, the Suns started out hot, eventually leading by as many as 10 points. That's when the Lakers, led mostly by some strong interior play from Reaves, Walker and Russell Westbrook, started roaring back, eventually knotting up the score at 49-49.

Every Lakers fan watching held their breath when Davis fell, seeming to hit his elbow or wrist on Devin Booker's head. The Lakers' whole bench approached Davis, who was writhing on the floor for a while. Per Chris Haynes of TNT, Davis hurt the loss of sensation from his hand all the way down to his elbow. He seemed visibly bothered and frequently grabbed his wrist in the rest of the quarter:

All told, the Lakers went on an 18-6 run to close out the half strong. In the half's final 7.5 seconds, Davis drew a Deandre Ayton foul on a pump-fake, the big man's third for the game, which wound up limiting his minutes in the second half. Davis already had notched a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double by the half. The Lakers led by two, 55-53.

Davis kept the Lakers in it during the third quarter, scoring 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting. He also grabbed eight boards, while playing every single second of the frame.

The third frame was a mostly back-and-forth affair, until the Suns went on a 7-2 run to close the quarter on top, 86-79, thanks to the efforts of a lineup featuring Booker surrounded by reserves Damion Lee, Ish Wainright, Bismack Biyombo, and Duane Washington Jr.

Though Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis scored nine points apiece in the final frame, the rest of the Lakers role players scored a combined eight.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Suns quickly built up a double-digit lead, and kept the Lakers at mostly arms' length for much of the frame.

Until things got chippy. Reaves and Booker fought for a rebound, Booker appeared to somewhat swat Reaves to the ground, then pulled an Allen Iverson and stepped over him. Deandre Ayton stood over a still-grounded Reaves, so Beverley reacted by shoving Ayton to the ground from behind.

Understandably, this cheap ploy and the ensuing fight got both Beverley and Ayton whistled for technicals. Booker was assessed a Flagrant 1 for his initial foul of Reaves. Beverley was ejected. Though Beverley did pull down 10 rebounds, he had more fouls (two) than points (0) in 29:11. The cheap shot on Ayton was probably his biggest play of the night.

Ayton, meanwhile, had an efficient and post-heavy double-double of his own, scoring 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while grabbing 15 boards. 

With the game well out of hand and the Suns leading 115-105 (the game's final margin), Davis wrapped things up with a fifth (semi-meaningless) block.

Bridges and Booker each scored 25 points to lead the Suns, who concluded the night with a 115-105 victory.

Only four Lakers scored in double digits (beyond Davis's unreal numbers, Lonnie Walker had 24 points, Westbrook had 21, and Reaves had 11), and aside from them, only two other Lakers scored at all. The four others who played (including starters Beverley and Troy Brown Jr.) all combined for a grand total of zero points.

Considering that LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Cameron Johnson were all absent, this was a fairly well-fought contest, aside from, you know, the actual fighting.

Anthony Davis deserves some help, even when James does come back. The Lakers play way too many small guards, and almost nobody on the roster can shoot three-pointers (L.A. went a brutal 4-of-22 from deep last night, while Phoenix shot 16-of-34). The team could use some elite three-point shooting and some high-level defensive help along the frontline. I wonder where the Lakers could find that... Oh wait.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Basketball is Alex's favorite sport, he likes the way they dribble up and down the court.

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