Lakers fall to the Suns in the first game of the series.
In their first game of the NBA playoffs, the Lakers were unable to come out with a victory against the Phoenix Suns, losing 99–90 and falling to 0–1 in the series. The Lakers were simply outplayed this afternoon, not playing with championship intensity as they trailed throughout the entire game. Struggles came from the perimeter in tonight’s loss, with the Lakers finishing 27% from the three-point arc on 7 of 26 shooting. The Lakers have to establish consistency from the field and start off games with high energy throughout this series against a tough 2nd seed Suns team. Head coach Frank Vogel spoke on the Lakers game one’s loss saying:
“I thought our guys played with great intensity. We got to look at the tape and figure out how to get better for Game 2.”
The Suns were methodical on offense tonight, behind a huge performance from all-star Devin Booker, scoring the most points in a playoff debut in Suns history with 34 points with Lakers head coach Frank Vogel calling Booker a “Scoring machine.” Deandre Ayton finished 2nd in scoring with a huge big man performance, outplaying the Lakers frontcourt with 21 points and 15 rebounds on 10 of 11 (90.9%) shooting from the field.
LeBron James has had some issues with tightness on his ankle that sidelined him for almost two months coming into this series and tonight he hardly showed any issue on his ankle, looking healthy throughout the game. In tonight’s defeat, James finished with 18 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds on 6 of 13 (46.1%) total from the field. James was the only Laker starter to finish with a positive plus/minus with +2 in 36 minutes of action. James spoke on the loss and what needs to happen moving forward saying:
“Game 1 has always been a feel-out game for me. I look forward to breaking down the film tonight, and as a team tomorrow and getting ready for Game 2.”
LeBron had another injury scare in the 4th quarter of tonight’s game. James had his arm held down by Suns Chris Paul on a rebound attempt off a free-throw, with James falling down hard clenching his arm after falling down. After the game, James talked about the incident and his health saying “I’ll be ready for Game 2.”
Anthony Davis had a rough start in today's loss to the Suns, struggling to find his rhythm on offense and getting outplayed by Suns Deandre Ayton. In 38 minutes tonight, Davis finished with just 13 points on 5 of 16 (31%) shooting from the field, grabbing 7 rebounds and achieving 3 blocks with a plus/minus of -18, the worst by any player tonight. Immediately after the game, Davis blamed himself for the loss, voicing how he played saying:
“I missed a ton of shots. We missed a lot of shots. There’s no way we’re winning a game or let alone a series with me playing the way I played. This one is on me, I’ll be better in Game 2.”
Despite the struggles on defense, Dennis Schröder and Andre Drummond had a solid performance for the Lakers on offense. Schröder finished with 14 points on 5 for 7 (71%) shooting from the field in 34 minutes of action. Drummond ended the night with 12 points and 9 rebounds on 5 of 7 (71%) from the field in 19 minutes.
The Lakers spark came from the bench tonight with a couple of players finishing in double figures. Montrezl Harrell led the bench in scoring, providing an intensity that the Lakers lacked in tonight's loss, scoring 12 points in only 14 minutes of 4 of 5 (80%) shooting from the field. Alex Caruso was the second bench player to score in double figures for the Lakers tonight, scoring all 10 of his points in the 4th quarter in 24 minutes of action tonight.
Moving forward in the series, Anthony Davis has to play to the superstar level we know he’s capable of playing, just like we saw in last year's championship run in the bubble. Look for the Lakers to answer back with a lot of energy in game two as the Lakers have shown to answer back big after a huge game one loss in a playoff series just like we saw in the bubble last year.