LeBron James and Kevin Durant performed pretty much as advertised. The same cannot be said for other Phoenix Suns players.
James and the Los Angeles Lakers erased a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit with a 100-95 victory over the Suns on Thursday in the first regular-season meeting between the two superstars in more than five years.
But it wasn’t the prettiest of games. First, the Suns lost two of Durant’s most important teammates in Devin Booker (foot) and Bradley Beal (guard), which was not a stretch for a team already low on depth. Great development.
That didn’t seem to matter much of the game, as Durant led the Suns to a double-digit lead at the end of the third quarter. It would have been a huge statement for a potential contender to beat a solid Lakers team on their home court in their second game of the season, but then the Suns’ offense collapsed in alarming proportions Degree.
From the beginning of the fourth quarter to the last two minutes, the Suns scored three points in a row. Third, Durant made a three-pointer. The Lakers didn’t play their best game, but they didn’t need it. They outscored the Suns 19-3 in those 10 minutes, with Durant going ice cold and none of his teammates looking like NBA-level players offensively.
Bad shots, bad turnovers, bad communication. It was a string of mistakes that was undesirable for James and Anthony Davis. All Suns players except Kevin shot 1-for-9 from the field in the quarter, with the only basket coming from Jordan Goodwin in the final 10 seconds.
Durant finally warmed up at a critical moment to help the Suns maintain the lead, but it only allowed James to win the game.
James scored 21 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 5 turnovers. Durant made 14 of 28 shots (1 of 4 three-pointers) and scored 39 points and 11 rebounds. . The Suns outscored the Lakers by 18 points in the 39 minutes he was on the court, and outscored the Lakers by 23 points in the nine minutes he was off the court.
It wasn’t the best night for supporters hoping the Suns could survive a superstar night.
Davis performed well throughout the game, scoring 30 points, 13 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals. It was a pretty strong response for a player who received a lot of criticism for scoring zero points in the second half of the Lakers’ season-opening loss to the Denver Nuggets, but James insisted after the game that such criticism was not Doesn’t faze Davis:
“We don’t give any response to criticism against AD. We don’t care. Nothing bothers us. AD doesn’t care. I don’t know if people have figured it out yet,” James said. “AD doesn’t care. He’s not on social media so he doesn’t see any trash. He rarely talks unless it’s to us. So we don’t give a s*** about it. He definitely doesn’t. Just goes out and does his job .We’re excited to have him.”
Davis and the Lakers will face another test on Sunday against the Sacramento Kings, while the Suns have three days to get healthy before facing the Utah Jazz on the same day.