The Phoenix Suns got a big 123-113 win over the surging Lakers tonight, strengthening their bid for a top-six seed in the West. The Lakers have had the Suns’ number in earlier matchups this season, but Phoenix looked comfortable in this win. Kevin Durant spoke to the media afterward and identified the key strategies that led to this win.
“We got to make teams pay for selling out trying to stop me and Book. I think that’s what the Lakers did and they had success early on. We were missing guys. They tried their hardest to take the ball out of our hands and make our lives tough. Guys came through today and made them pay for it.”
Durant further zoned in on some poor defensive decisions from Anthony Dabis which led the likes of Jusuf Nurkic to have a big game.
“AD seemed to be leaving Nurk’s body a lot to come and contest, which gave us a little Ysomething. I heard AD screaming to his teammates, ‘You got to help me, you got to help me’ cause he trying to track me and Book wherever we go… They’re gonna out some much pressure on trying to stop us and forget about the rest of the team. We got to take advantage like we did tonight.”
"We got to make teams pay for selling out trying to stop me and Book."
Kevin Durant on #Suns win vs. #Lakers. Had 6 players in double figures.
"I heard AD screaming to his teammates, 'you got to help me, you got to help me' cause he trying to track me and Book wherever we go." pic.twitter.com/XwqfAbXSGd
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) February 26, 2024
The Suns had one of their most complete team performances of the season in this win. The lowest-scoring starter was Jusuf Nurkic with 18 points and 12 rebounds. All other players scored over 20 points, with Grayson Allen leading the charge with 24 points. Kevin Durant had 22 points on the night while Booker put up 21 points.
The Lakers also tried leading with a team effort but fell short on the night. LeBron James led the team with 28 points, seven rebounds, and 12 assists. Anthony Davis had 22 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. All other Lakers started also notched points in the double-digits, but the poor performances from the bench doomed them to the loss.
The Lakers Are 1-2 Since All-Star Break
The Lakers haven’t had the ideal start to their post-All-Star break games, with tonight’s loss against the Suns being just their third contest. After losing to the Warriors and beating the Spurs the Lakers needed a win over Phoenix but couldn’t pull it off. Even Phoenix is coming off a rough loss to the Dallas Mavericks but rebounded exceptionally in this win.
The Lakers’ lack of trades and rotational injuries have exposed the franchise’s limitations on both ends of the ball. They’re overly reliant on AD to be their defensive system, something KD alluded to as well. Similarly, they rely on LeBron to be the offensive engine of the team. Sometimes it works, but the lack of options for the Lakers this late into the season is concerning.
Spencer Dinwiddie has been a bad signing so far, averaging 4.8 points and 3.4 assists on 31.0% shooting in three games. With his poor performances and the inconsistency of D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, the Lakers look more similar to the version of them we saw in December this year.
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