In a Sunday matinee game on the road, the Los Angeles Lakers came out flat and it wound up costing them a crucial win against the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers lost to the Suns 123-113, but the final score doesn’t paint a good picture of how poor the team looked. Defensively, Los Angeles was nowhere near close to good as they allowed Phoenix to torch them for 45 points in the first quarter. Although they tightened up later in the afternoon, the Lakers couldn’t get enough stops when they needed it.
LeBron James got off to a strong start scoring the basketball, followed by D’Angelo Russell who was able to hit timely shots to keep the Lakers within striking distance. After a rough beginning, Anthony Davis finally got involved offensively as he was looked to shoot every time he caught the basketball.
Although Los Angeles went on to lose the game, the consistent scoring from James, Davis and Russell was an encouraging sign. In fact, the trio set a new franchise record for a set of players scoring 20 points or more with them all doing so in five straight games, via Anthony Gharib of ESPN:
All three scored at least 20 points today, pushing this streak to five games, now the longest in Lakers history. https://t.co/A1YNDvxNhu
— Anthony Gharib (@GharibSports) February 25, 2024
James and Davis aren’t strangers to carrying the offensive burden for the Lakers, while Russell has been on a heater since the end of January. The three have established themselves as the hierarchy on the offensive end, but they’ll need help from the rest of the roster if they want overcome teams like the Suns.
While it’s good to know that L.A. can count on their stars and Russell to produce points, the larger issue at hand is their inconsistent play on both ends of the floor. The team as a whole looked flat for most of the afternoon in Phoenix, and it took a double-digit deficit for them to start playing with more focus and intensity.
Unfortunately for the purple and gold, the schedule only gets tougher from here on out. The team will get two days of rest before they taking on the L.A. Clippers where James, Russell and Davis will look to extend their streak.
Darvin Ham emphasizes need for Lakers to do little things
Head coach Darvin Ham hasn’t been happy with how his team has played since the All-Star break with them going 1-2 so far. Even after the lone win, Ham emphasized the need for the Lakers to do the little things like sprinting back in transition and taking care of the basketball.