With an extremely high shooting success rate in the first half of the match, the Phoenix Suns took an early lead over the Los Angeles Lakers despite playing away at Crypto.com Arena.
Phoenix stars like Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal continuously brought in points, while forcing the Lakers to make many turnovers or forced difficult shots.
Just like that, the 21-30 FG performance seemed to help the Phoenix Suns have an easy match, leading the Lakers by 22 points. But then everything turned around from the second half of the second quarter and the entire third quarter.
From a 35-55 lead in the middle of the second half, Anthony Davis and his teammates tightened their defense and attacked more effectively to create a 35-16 run, narrowing the score to 70-71.
The Phoenix Suns then took a 7-point lead but were soon “suffocated” by the Lakers once again. Thanks to LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Davis, the home team created another 24-7 run to take a 10-point lead.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker tried very hard to hold the game back for the Suns. But every time they scored, the Lakers responded with many names such as Gabe Vincent (5 PTS, 3 STL), D’Angelo Russell (5 PTS, 5 AST) or Rui Hachimura (14 PTS, 7 REB).
This extremely even performance helped the Los Angeles Lakers complete a spectacular comeback, winning 123-116 despite being down 22 points at one point.
Anthony Davis had his second consecutive 30+ point game, more specifically 35 points (11-18 FG, 13-17 FT) 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Austin Reaves scored 26 points with 8 assists and 3 steals (8-12 FG, 5-6 FT).
LeBron James, after a quiet first two quarters with only 4 points, finished the match with 21 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. Rui Hachimura added 14 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
Kevin Durant on the other side had 30 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds with 11-17 FG. Devin Booker scored 23 points (9-21 FG, 4-10 3PT). Tyus Jones and Bradley Beal scored 14 and 15 points respectively. Beal alone had 9 assists.
Another great game from Anthony Davis
With 35 points scored against the Phoenix Suns, Anthony Davis has had 2 consecutive games reaching the 35-point mark to start the 2024-25 season. The 1993-born Bigman joins a group of 3 rare Lakers players to do this, alongside Davis are legends Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.
Coach JJ Redick shared before the season that Anthony Davis would be the centerpiece of the Los Angeles Lakers’ attack. In fact, Davis is being used with great intensity, always having a lot of the ball in his hands, often shooting and mixing in assists.
This not only helps reduce the load on LeBron James, but also turns Davis into a dangerous weapon because he has a versatile playing style and is extremely difficult to control.
Although the season has just begun and the Lakers have only played 2 games, what coach JJ Redick is doing with the LA team’s offense is bringing an extremely positive image.
However, effectiveness or the ability to change when opponents gradually figure out will be an aspect that needs to be further proven in the future, including the position of AD and the new captain of the Los Angeles Lakers.
This was the second straight win for the Los Angeles Lakers, starting an unbeaten run under new head coach JJ Redick. After this game, the Lakers will take a quick break to recover as they face a back-to-back match against the Sacramento Kings tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns shared a bittersweet moment in LA as they beat the Clippers but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Like the purple and yellow team, the Suns will take the field tomorrow to host Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.