The Lakers dropped their first preseason game on Friday, falling to the Suns, 103-81.
Austin Reaves scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half. He also grabbed three rebounds and dished two assists. Rui
Hachimura had 11 points with, three rebounds and two steals.
Deandre Ayton had a rough offensive game with one point. He grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots. Jake LaRavia pitched in with seven points and five rebounds. Bronny James notched eight points. R.J. Davis had a nice night off the bench with 14 points.
Reaves and Hachimura started things offensively for the Lakers, combining for the first nine points. Grayson Allen made two of his three attempts from behind the arc. Then, Ayton had a nice block on Allen.
L.A. called a timeout after they fell behind by six, thanks to a 7-0 run from the Suns. Out of the break, Ayton was fouled and converted on one of two free throws.
Phoenix went on an 11-0 scoring run. The Lakers had gone seven minutes without scoring a field goal until Reaves converted on a layup at the 1:14 mark. At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down 15.
Royce O’Neale started the second period with his second 3-pointer of the half. L.A. then went on a 12-2 run on the shoulders of Reaves, who was looking like he was already in midseason form. He was in double figures with 16 points.
LaRavia scored his first points off a 3-pointer. Ayton was now up to two blocks for the half. Hachimura drained a 3-pointer. It was a three-point game with 6:40 left until halftime.
The Suns managed to keep the Lakers from taking the lead. Dillon Brooks was a perfect three for three from behind the arc. Devin Booker began to light it up, becoming the first Sun in double figures with 14 points. Jaxson Hayes threw down a monster dunk over Booker.
At halftime, L.A. was down 13.
Phoenix went on a run to start the second half, scoring a quick seven points. They then continued to completely own Los Angeles all quarter long.
The Lakers struggled heavily with their offense, shooting just 31%.
Booker was now at 24 points. The rest of the third quarter happened and Phoenix was up big going into the fourth.
The final frame was great for Davis, who showed what he can do with some playing time. He was up to 10 points with 8:30 left in the game. Dalton Knecht was able to make his first 3-pointer out of six tries. The rest of the quarter was cardio.
Key Takeaways:
The offense was bad, turnovers were bad, it’s preseason… but hey! Reaves is ready to go!
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
