Suns' Late Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Lakers

In a city full of stars, the Phoenix Suns couldn't shine without their own in a 122-111 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Suns have now lost their last five-of-six games and are 38-34 on the season. This was their first loss of the year vs Los Angeles. The Lakers improve to 36-37 and have won their last six-of-ten games.

It was the second consecutive game where Phoenix (a top five defensive unit in points allowed per game) allowed 120 or more points to opponents.

Los Angeles led for majority of the game, though the Suns did draw the lead within one point in the final minutes of the matchup before the Lakers extended their lead to 11 points with under four to go.

The Lakers led by as much as 12 points in their first win over Phoenix in seven games.

Without Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton, it was Devin Booker who again shouldered the scoring load for Phoenix. Booker (33 points) has now scored 30 points in more in all but two games in March, his eighth in ten games this month. It was his sixth consecutive road game hitting that mark, too.

Chris Paul chipped in 18 points as well.

Anthony Davis was unsurprisingly LA's featured star without LeBron James in the lineup, dropping 27 points and nine rebounds. He was one of three Lakers to score 20 or more points, joined by D'Angelo Russell (26) and Austin Reaves (25).

Free throws were again a talking point in a matchup featuring the Suns being doubled on attempts at the line in 46-20 fashion.

The Lakers shot a strong 55.7% from the field, which included 47.1% from downtown.

The last meeting between the two squads will come on April 7, the second-to-last game for Phoenix of the regular season.

Los Angeles will stay put at Crypto.com Arena for a Friday night date with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Suns finish their road trip in a Friday night meeting with the Sacramento Kings.