Suns Hold LeBron, Lakers Off in Final Seconds

The Phoenix Suns avenged their Friday night loss to the Los Angeles Lakers with tonight's win.

Oct 28, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) handles the ball against Phoenix Suns forward Royce O'Neale (00) at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- Down by as much as 18, the Phoenix Suns emerged victorious over the Los Angeles Lakers in 109-105 fashion on Monday night.

Phoenix, now 3-1, gave the Lakers (3-1) their first loss of the season after blowing a 22-point lead to Los Angeles just days ago on Friday.

It was a rare off-night for LeBron James, who scored just 11 points on 3-14 shooting from the field.

QUICK RECAP

The Lakers emerged to a 23-8 lead thanks to a quick 11 points from Anthony Davis. In a quarter that could have turned very ugly very quickly, the Suns ended on a strong note to only be down nine, 34-25. Kevin Durant ended the quarter with 12 points while Los Angeles - as a team - shot 52% from the field.

A quick 9-2 to start the second quarter forced Lakers coach JJ Redick to call a timeout and regroup his troops.

Phoenix kept their deficit to around seven through majority of the quarter, though with 40 seconds left in the half, Devin Booker (who had 14 points in the second quarter) drained a corner three to give Phoenix their first lead since the beginning stages of the game.

The Suns led moving into the locker room up 50-48 despite lackluster three-point shooting (26%).

It was a rather uneventful third quarter for Phoenix, who saw their lead slowly evaporate over the course of 12 minutes with the Lakers eventually leading 83-76 moving into the final quarter. Los Angeles made seven of ten three-point attempts in the third.

The fourth quarter featured a swapping of buckets that continued into the final stages of the game, where the contest went into the waning seconds of regulation.

With the Suns up three late, the Lakers were forced to the foul line with six seconds left. After James made the first free throw, his second attempt (a miss on purpose) eventually fumbled its way to the other side of the court, where Bradley Beal was fouled and eventually sank two shots from the stripe to ice the game.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

Kevin Durant - 30 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four blocks
Devin Booker - 33 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal
Bradley Beal - 15 points, three rebounds, four assists , two steals, one block

Anthony Davis - 29 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, three blocks
LeBron James -11 points, five rebounds, eight assists
Austin Reaves - 23 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals

WHAT'S NEXT

The Suns are on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.