Game Recap: Suns Edge Lakers for First Preseason Win
The Phoenix Suns looked to quickly move on from their opening preseason loss to the Adelaide 36ers on Sunday night, this time facing against their divisional rivals in Los Angeles when the Lakers met them in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Lakers big man Anthony Davis was ruled out prior to tipoff with lower back tightness. Wenyen Gabriel started in his place.
Here's how Phoenix grabbed their first win of the new year:
Suns Starting lineup:
PG Chris Paul
SG Devin Booker
SF Mikal Bridges
PF Cam Johnson
C Deandre Ayton
First Quarter
Both teams were able to find the hoop early, exchanging early buckets that featured a Devin Booker pull-up three and Russell Westbrook getting to the line twice in the first two minutes (he did air-ball a free throw, for those curious).
Mikal Bridges picked up three early fouls with 9:02 left in the first, but coach Monty Williams didn't sub the small forward out. Throughout the week, Williams has focused on getting his starters minutes together before the regular season began.
The Lakers led 20-17 at the first timeout with 6:11 in a fast-paced first quarter. LeBron James found an early 9 points on 4-5 shooting.
Los Angeles built a 27-21 lead with 3:46 remaining in the first, as their ball movement proved to be too much for Phoenix at the perimeter. Deandre Ayton took a rare three-point shot but likely damaged the rim after hitting the front of it.
The Lakers forged a 9-0 run out of the break to take full control heading into the end of the first quarter, as the Suns eventually found themselves down by 11 with under a minute left in the opening period of play.
Jock Landale was able to put home a tip-in at the last second to get Phoenix within seven, trailing the Lakers 35-28.
Phoenix again got off to a poor start shooting the three ball, converting just 3-of-11 attempts from beyond the arc.
Ayton started the game a poor 1-for-6 shooting while Bridges was just 1-for-4 as well.
Second Quarter
Chris Paul was the only starter on the floor for Phoenix to begin the second quarter. Dario Saric also saw his first minutes of the preseason, although the Suns were unable to put a dent in the Lakers' lead.
Landale was almost a victim of a poster dunk from Damian Jones, but almost doesn't count in the NBA.
James returned to the game and quickly provided a spark for the Lakers, continually firing shots from downtown to ensure LA remained ahead by double digits midway through the second quarter, 48-38.
Two free throws from Paul and a three-pointer from Booker made it a five-point game with 4:30 left in the first half.
Injury news: Cam Johnson suffered a right thumb sprain and was ruled out, while Cam Payne was ruled out for a right finger sprain.
The two teams would swap baskets until the buzzer sounded, with Phoenix trailing 69-62 after being down as much as 12 points at one point.
The Lakers shot a tremendous 22-of-45 (48.9%) from the field.
Booker paced the Suns with 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
James, who ended the first half with 23 points, would not return to action in the second half.
Third Quarter
Torrey Craig strolled onto the court with the starters to begin the second half, who provided a valuable four points in the first three minutes to draw the lead to 74-70.
The Lakers carried a 69-62 lead into the first timeout of the third quarter. Bridges fouled out after shooting 1-for-5 from the field.
Paul exited the game with 5:08 left in the third.
Both teams threw their bench players in action the rest of the night, and just as the Lakers kept threatening to extend their lead, the Suns managed to keep the score close as the third quarter came to a close.
The star of the show after James exited was Kendrick Nunn, who scored 21 points in 18 minutes as the Lakers carried a 95-91 lead into the fourth.
Landry Shamet wasn't too far behind with 18 of his own, twice as much as any bench player for Phoenix.
Fourth Quarter
The Suns would take their first lead after an early 7-6, thanks to Shamet/Lee nailing back to back threes to go in front 96-95 lead.
With 7:30 left, the Suns held a 102-97 advantage thanks to an impressive stretch from Landale, who had five points and two rebounds from the start of the quarter to the stoppage in play.
Continuing to trade buckets, Phoenix would hold a 108-103 lead with 4:31 left. Duane Washington would head to the line with 3:24 left to extend the lead.
After exchanging baskets, the Lakers drew within a 114-112 deficit with under a minute to play.
Saric would draw a foul and hit one of two free throws to make it a three-point game.
Scottie Pippen Jr. would miss a shot down in the post before grabbing his own rebound and drawing a foul himself, knocking down both to make it a one-point game with 32 seconds left.
Saric, again hitting the line after an intentional foul, successfully made both attempts to make the score 117-114.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham would call a timeout with eight seconds left to draw up a potential game-tying play.
However, the Suns would intentionally foul rather than letting a three-point shot. Dwayne Bacon would miss his second free throw and send Phoenix to the line to ice the game.
The Suns would win their first preseason game of the new year in 119-115 fashion.
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