Coming off two losses after the second half of the season started, the Suns were set for an early Sunday afternoon primetime matchup versus the Lakers at home.
Beforehand, it was announced that Bradley Beal would miss his fourth game in a row, and Eric Gordon would be out with a left groin strain. The Suns adjusted by starting Royce O’Neale for the first time in his Suns career.
The aggressive Suns came out of the gates with force, leading by as much as 20. Once the quarter ended, the Suns notched a season-high of 45 points in the first quarter. That’s the most they’ve had in one quarter all season long.
In the second quarter, the Lakers fought back, ending the quarter down by nine. Bol Bol and Royce O’Neale were both huge contributors to the Suns’ first-half success.
Coming out of halftime, the LeBron James-led Lakers put pressure on the Suns, as they got Phoenix’s lead down to just six. Kevin Durant and Grayson Allen weren’t having that because they would hold LA off by five once the quarter ended.
Everyone for the Suns came in today knowing their role and knew what was at stake as four players finished with 20-plus points, and two more were over 10-plus. There were points in this game where the Suns’ offensive game plan got sloppy, but luckily Grayson Allen would be there to hit an open three; he finished with a team-high 24 points, including six threes. Another Sun finished with six threes as well, that being Royce O’Neale. He has been a perfect fit so far; he had 20 and a dagger three-point hit to wrap things up.
The Lakers got a few highlight plays, and LeBron had a game-high 28 points, but it didn’t matter to the winning Suns. The final score was 123-113. The Suns get a three-day break, which will hopefully lead to Bradley Beal making his return from injury. The Suns will host the Houston Rockets on Thursday night at the Footprint Center.
