Lakers beat Suns in fourth quarter, rally to win home opener

LOS ANGELES — The Phoenix Suns didn’t have their best foot forward when they arrived here. That’s because All-Star guards Devin Booker and Bradley Beal were sidelined with injuries, allowing the Lakers to pull off a win in Thursday night’s home opener at Crypto.com Arena.

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“They still have a lot of firepower,” Lakers coach Davin Hamm said of the Suns before the game. “It’s not going to be easy no matter what.”

There is no one-size-fits-all right.

Entering the final quarter, the Lakers defeated the Suns 100-95 after trailing by 12 points.

It wasn’t until LeBron James’ layup with 3:42 left that the Lakers took their first lead of the second half, leading 89-87.

With 1 minute and 30 seconds left in the game, Kevin Durant scored a layup and the Suns chased the score to 91-91. But James responded, scoring layups in consecutive rounds, and the Lakers opened the score forever. James played the entire fourth quarter and finished the game strong, scoring 10 of the Lakers’ 28 fourth-quarter points.

James of the Lakers had 21 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, and Anthony Davis had 29 points and 13 rebounds.

As Hamm said, the Suns still have the firepower. That said, they have Durant, the perennial All-Star forward who scored 39 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Suns. Durant’s offensive explosion has allowed him to surpass Hakeem Olajuwon and rank 12th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

But in the final stretch, he and the rest of the Suns looked exhausted and ultimately failed. They only scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers lead the Suns 7-0 after losing to the Denver Nuggets in the season opener on Tuesday.

Then they took a detour.

The Suns went on a 30-11 run and led 30-18 at the end of the first quarter. The listless Lakers made 1 of 9 three-pointers in this quarter, and James was still looking for his first point.

With James finally getting better, the Lakers began to wake up, and his dunk put the Lakers ahead 38-35 with 5:55 left in the second quarter, prompting a Suns timeout.

Just like that, the Phoenix team regained momentum with a 17-10 run and led 52-48 at halftime.

The Lakers didn’t explode in the second half. In fact, by the end of the third quarter, the Suns extended their lead to 84-72. Durant hit a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left in the quarter, causing Lakers fans to groan.

The Lakers played a video tribute to former coach Frank Vogel on the scoreboard in the first quarter. PA announcer Lawrence Tanter also shines.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Frank Vogel, world championship coach of the Lakers,” Tant intoned.

Vogel helped the Lakers win their 17th NBA championship in 2020 as the team’s first-year head coach in his first season as head coach of the Phoenix Suns. Vogel managed the roster with aplomb during the COVID-shortened season and a fresh start in the Orlando bubble.

But Vogel’s tenure with the Lakers only lasted three years. His second season ended with a first-round playoff loss to the Suns, and his third season also ended in failure, with the Lakers going 33-49 and ending Vogel’s jobless career. Hired by the Suns.