Davis and James Save the Day for Listless Lakers Versus Shorthanded Suns
Anthony Davis and LeBron James combined to score 23 fourth quarter points as the L.A. Lakers rallied from an 84-72 deficit at the start of the final period to post a 100-95 win versus a Phoenix Suns team missing injured stars Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. Davis led the Lakers with 30 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while James finished with 21 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 39 points on 14-28 field goal shooting, and he was the only Phoenix player with a double digit plus/minus number (+18). Durant topped the Suns with 11 rebounds, but he also had a game-high eight turnovers. Both teams struggled to score, with the Lakers shooting 36-84 (.429) from the field and the Suns shooting 34-81 (.420) from the field--and the three point shooting was horrific, with the Lakers shooting 5-29 (.172) and the Suns shooting 9-31 (.290).
The Suns jumped out to a 30-18 lead by the end of the first quarter, with Eric Gordon and Jordan Goodwin (seven points each) leading the way while Durant scored six points. James did not score in the first quarter. In the second quarter, James led both teams with 11 points as the Lakers almost reversed the first quarter margin, outscoring the Suns 30-22 to only trail 52-48 at halftime.
The Suns heated up in the third quarter, scoring 32 points on 10-17 (.588) field goal shooting as Durant scored 15 points while shooting 5-6 from the field. James did not score and shot 0-1 from the field, and it looked like the Suns were poised to win even without All-Stars Booker and Beal. The Lakers have indicated that they intend to limit James to around 30 minutes per game during the regular season, and if they had stuck to that plan then he would have barely played half of the fourth quarter--but James played all 12 minutes in the final stanza, and he attacked the hoop relentlessly instead of settling for long jump shots. James scored layups on back to back possessions to break a 91-91 tie, and then after Austin Reaves split a pair of free throws Davis closed out the scoring by sinking four straight free throws in the final seven seconds. Davis scored 13 fourth quarter points, while James added 10 fourth quarter points
Regardless of all of the talk about various personnel moves transforming the Lakers, at their core the Lakers are the same team now that they were at the start of last season: they can be very dangerous when both James and Davis are healthy and engaged, and they are mediocre at best otherwise. James' level of play as a soon to be 39 year old in his 21st NBA season is remarkable; no player in pro basketball history has been this athletic and retained this much skill at his age level/experience level. James is understandably not as durable as he was during his prime, but when he is healthy he still plays at an MVP level. It is tempting to call Davis an enigma, but an enigma is a mystery and Davis is not mysterious, because the 12 season veteran has consistently demonstrated who he is: he is a very talented player who misses a lot of games due to injury, and who does not consistently play with a high energy level after returning from injury. When James and Davis play the way that they did in the fourth quarter versus the Suns, the Lakers will be successful whether they have Russell Westbrook or D'Angelo Russell; when James and Davis do not play at all or when they do not play at a high level, the Lakers are not very good.
The Suns are who we thought they were: a team with elite players who often miss games due to injury, supported by a thin bench. Bradley Beal has missed the first two games of the season due to a back injury. Devin Booker starred in the first game, then missed the second game due to injury. Durant has played in 55 games or less in each of the four seasons since he ruptured his Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals, and if the Suns are relying on him to consistently score 39 points in 39 minutes that is a recipe for him to miss a lot of games later in the season. Jusuf Nurkic, acquired in an offseason trade for Deandre Ayton, has appeared in 56 games or less in each of the past four seasons. The Suns are betting that their four best players will be healthy enough during the playoffs to make a championship run, regardless of how many regular season games they miss or where the Suns finish in the regular season standings.
Labels: Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Phoenix Suns
posted by David Friedman @ 1:30 PM
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