In one of the most bonkers games of the season, the Lakers survived a wild ending against the Suns to earn a 116-114 win on Sunday.
Dillon Brooks hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with roughly 12 seconds remaining,
but immediately got himself ejected. LeBron James made it interesting late as he missed the technical, but was then fouled on a 3-pointer where he hit two of three to give the Lakers the lead and eventual win.
The Lakers started strong offensively, shooting 54% from the field. Ayton was leading all scorers with six points. Luka was close behind with five points. Phoenix called a timeout with LA up by seven points.
Out of the break, Los Angeles turned the ball over, leading to an easy layup for Devin Booker. An 8-2 Suns scoring run tied the game with 3:23 left in the quarter. Mark Williams was leading Phoenix with eight points.
Hayes put up a quick four points off the bench for the Lakers. LeBron, however, had five turnovers in the quarter. The Suns ended the first on a 10-2 run to put themselves up by five.
After Phoenix started the second period scoring five points in a row, the Lakers responded with Ayton starting what would become an 8-2 run, making it a two-point game.
Luka and Ayton were in double figures with 12 points each. Royce O’Neale was shooting the lights out from behind the arc, converting on four of his five attempts.
At the 5:11 mark, Los Angeles was down by four.
The turnover count was at 12 for LA. They were a big issue with the Suns’ heavy defense pressure. The half ended fouls on Dillon Brooks and Booker on LeBron in subsequent plays, sending him to the charity stripe for four attempts, where he converted on three.
At halftime, it was a tie game.
The second half begun with the teams trading shots until the refs took over with foul calls and replay reviews.
The positive was that Brooks picked up his fifth foul. The Lakers were playing with low energy, jacking up 3-pointers they were not making.
Despite LA playing poorly, at the 5:28 mark, they were only down by four.
Both teams were also struggling in general from the field. Los Angeles had only made four of their 22 shot attempts, while Phoenix had made five of their 15. Neither team could make a 3-pointer either.
A 9-0 scoring burst for the Lakers put them in the lead. The Suns were on a four-minute scoring drought. Hayes also had a massive dunk that provided even more spark for the team. He and LaRavia, who had two assists and two blocks, provided massive energy for the team.
The first 3-pointer of the quarter came from Vincent and it extended Los Angeles’s lead to nine going into the fourth quarter.
LA pushed their lead to 18 to start the final frame. Phoenix had missed 13 shots in a row since the third quarter. LeBron drained what felt like the first 3-pointer in 85 years for the team as part of the 24-0 run.
The Lakers’ defense was suffocating the Suns like a hot summer day in Phoenix. As happens in basketball, the energy shifted and the Suns went on their own big run to make it a single-digit deficit.
Los Angeles responded well with Ayton and Luka scoring a combined five points. The Lakers then went on a two-minute scoring drought as Phoenix made it a two-point game.
With 56 seconds left, LA was desperate for the field goal and LeBron delivered with a layup. Grayson Allen converted on two free throws to make it a two-point game again.
Smart was blocked on an incomprehensible layup attempt instead of running down the clock, which led to a 3-pointer from Brooks to give the Suns the lead by one.
Brooks was then given a technical foul after getting in LeBron’s face, which was his second, leading to an ejection. LeBron missed the technical free throw, but was then fouled on a three and converted on two of three free throws, putting LA up by one.
LeBron would partially block Allen’s potential game-winning shot and Smart would collect the rebound while being fouled with 0.4 seconds left. He made the first and intentionally missed the second to end the game.
Key Player Stats
Luka Dončić ended with 29 points and six assists. LeBron James had 26 points with three rebounds and four assists. Deandre Ayton notched 20 points with 13 rebounds and two steals.
Marcus Smart pitched in with eight points, six assists and four rebounds. Jarred Vanderbilt ended with seven points and seven rebounds, six of those offensive. Jaxson Hayes had 12 points with nine rebounds.
Jake LaRavia had eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks, providing a lot of great defensive effort. Gabe Vincent ended with five points.
The Lakers’ next matchup will be against the Utah Jazz on Thursday at 6:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
