NBA preseason , Lakers play against Suns . After four quarters of competition, the Lakers were reversed by the Suns while leading and defeated the Lakers 119-115. The former avoided the preseason league, while the latter suffered a two-game losing streak in the preseason. Including this game, the Lakers have suffered 10 consecutive losses against the Suns. James did his best in this game, Booker and Paul became the key to the Suns' reversal game.
Both teams ended in the first game of the preseason in the end with a loss. The Suns lost to the 36ers and became the first team to lose to Australia in NBA. The Lakers were in a bad state. They lost to the Kings 30 points in the first game. Both teams encountered a shameful record. In this case, they both wanted to prove themselves. The Suns and the Lakers sent their main players absent. They had previously threatened to Davis , who played 82 games in the regular season, was absent due to injury in this game. From the beginning of the game, the Lakers showed a strong offensive state, especially Westbrook . He wanted to prove himself in front of Paul. He made an outside shot and won the Lakers' top 5 points. After James experienced the embarrassment of 0 of 7 shots in the last game, he strengthened his personal offense in this game. Relying on Westbrook's offense, the Lakers maintained the lead in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Westbrook got off the court and took a break. Beverly came on the bench. He scored immediately, causing a three-point foul, helping the Lakers widen the score gap. The Suns encountered a scoring drought. They didn't score a point in the first three minutes. At the critical moment, Paul opened the deadlock for them. James suddenly broke out and he scored 2 three-pointers to kick off the Lakers' offense. However, the good times did not last long. With Paul, Ayton , and Booker found their state, they withstood the Lakers' offense and fell 7 points behind in the half. In the third quarter, Booker's touch was not diminished, and the Lakers' substitute encountered a scoring drought. Shamet made three three-pointers in a row, narrowing the gap to 4 points.
In the last quarter, the Suns substitute group ushered in an explosion. Shamet and Lee made three-pointers one after another, and the Suns directly overtook the score 8-0. The Lakers rely on Pippen, the free throws of Pippen and the three-pointer of Ryan at the critical moment, which gave the Lakers hope of winning. However, Saric successfully made a foul and made both free throws. The Lakers lost their last chance and were unfortunately reversed by the Suns and suffered a two-game losing streak in the preseason.
Looking at the whole game, the Lakers were reversed because the Suns were completely unethical. In the third quarter, the Lakers replaced all substitutes. In order to win, the Suns actually sent the main players, which led to the Lakers losing points continuously in the third quarter and the last quarter. James was in a very good state in the whole game. He played for 17 minutes, made 8 of 11 shots, 3 of 6 three-pointers, 4 of 5 free throws, and scored the highest 23 points in the game, plus 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal, without a single turnover. Compared with the previous game, James' adjustment ability is still worthy of recognition, especially he scored 12 points in a single quarter, which showed his good offensive state. Westbrook played for 21 minutes, 4 of 12 shots, 2 of 4 of 3 points, 2 of 5 free throws, and scored 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. However, Westbrook made 4 mistakes in this game, and made all the first 4 shots. The last 8 shots were all iron, Westbrook's unstable state was indeed incredible.
The Lakers performed the best were two substitutes. Last season, , Nunn, , who had been on duty for one year, played for 19 minutes in this game, made 8 of 13 shots, and made 4 three-pointers, scoring the second highest team 21 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, with only 1 mistake. Reeves played for 35 minutes, made 2 of 3 shots, scored 6 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and performed very comprehensively. However, the explosion of these players did not bring back a victory for the Lakers. The team made 13 of 41 three-pointers, which became one of the reasons for the loss.
Compared with the Lakers, the Suns scored in double digits, Booker scored the team's highest 22 points, Paul scored 13 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked comprehensive data, Ayton was in a sluggish state and made only 2 of 13 shots, scoring 7 points, Shamet became the team's biggest contributor to victory, playing for 28 minutes, 6 of 11 shots, hitting 5 three-pointers, and scoring 21 points, showing a good outside feel. After this game, the Lakers suffered a 10-game losing streak against the Suns. The last time the Lakers won the Suns dates back to the 2020-21 season Western Conference playoffs first round G3. The Lakers need to adjust next.
