Lakers fall to the Suns in Game 4, tying the series at 2–2.
After coming off a huge Game 3 win, the Lakers had huge momentum going into Game 4, but the energy wasn’t there today after losing Anthony Davis in the second half of the game, falling to the Suns 100–92, tying the series at 2–2. Today’s loss took a huge turnaround in the 3rd quarter as the Lakers were outscored 27–15, putting them in catchup mode for the rest of the game. After the game, head coach Frank Vogel was asked about the impact of losing Anthony Davis in the second half, saying:
“He’s one of the best players in the world, so you have to adjust. I thought we gave great effort in trying to overcome that loss, but it certainly wasn’t enough.“
Chris Paul was the major factor in tonight’s Lakers loss, energizing the Suns in a winning effort on both ends of the floor. Paul showed no sense of pain, as he has been dealing with a shoulder injury that has restricted his minutes throughout the series. In 31 minutes, Chris Paul scored a team-high 18 points on 7 of 15 (46.6%) shooting, also adding 9 assists and 3 steals in the win. After coming off a 22 point and 11 rebound night in Game 3 loss, Ayton had another huge night against this Lakers team, grabbing 17 rebounds and scoring 14 points on 6 of 8 (75%) from the paint.
In the shortest offseason in NBA history, the Lakers have had to deal with the shortest amount of days rested than any team, 72 days. The Lakers have not caught a break from the injury bug all season, consistently dealing with injuries all year. The Lakers were already coming into today’s game without starting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and in the 2nd quarter of this afternoon’s loss, the Lakers lost Anthony Davis for the rest of the second half, due to a hard fall that strained his left groin on a layup attempt.
In the past two series games, Davis has been a huge factor in the Lakers’ wins, scoring 34 points in both games and adding over 10 rebounds for Los Angeles. Moving forward the Lakers are going to have to game plan with the possibility of having Davis in the lineup. Frank Vogel gave his injury report to the media on the extent of his groin strain, saying:
“He has a strained groin and he’s going under further evaluation.”
With Anthony Davis getting hurt in the 2nd quarter, the Lakers looked to LeBron James, and the rest of the squad to add more intensity in Davis’ absence. In this afternoon’s loss, James scored a game-high 25 points on 10 of 21(47.6%) shooting from the field and a staggering 1 for 7 (14%) from three. James also added 12 rebounds and 6 assists in his 37 minutes of action. James tipped his hat to the Suns for coming in and playing well today and thinks it will be a “big-time Game 5” on Tuesday.
LeBron repeated a few times in the presser after the loss, stating he is “ready for the challenge” if the possibility of Anthony Davis’ groin strain keeps him sidelined for Game 5 and potentially beyond that.
After having a solid two games in the Lakers’ last two wins, Dennis Schröder was giving this Lakers team a spark from the point guard position, scoring over 20 points in Games 2 and 3. In today’s loss, Schroder struggled to stay consistent in this afternoon’s game, scoring just 8 points on 3 of 13 total shooting from the field. In 32 minutes of action tonight, Schröder finished with a plus/minus of -8, tied for the 4th worst on the team.
With the Lakers already entering this game without Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they had to adjust to another injury, this time to Anthony Davis. Moving forward the Lakers are going to need Kyle Kuzma to step up for the absence of Davis for possibly Games 5 and 6, pending MRI on Davis. Also look for bench player Markieef Morris to possibly start in place of Anthony Davis, who had a pretty accomplished role in the place of Davis in the starting lineup during the regular season.