Lakers can’t overcome slow start, fall to Suns in pivotal match-up

An awful first quarter from the Lakers left the Lakers too big a hole to climb out of as they fell to the Suns on Sunday.

Playing from behind throughout, the Lakers could not overcome an awful first quarter on Sunday afternoon and dropped an important game against the Suns, 123-113.

LeBron came alive in the second half to finish with 28 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds on a sizzling 11-17 shooting from the field. Anthony Davis was non-existent in the first half before also coming alive in the final two periods, tallying 22 points and 14 rebounds with a trio of steals and a pair of blocks.

D’Angelo Russell had some timely baskets throughout the game, ending the day with 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds on 8-14 shooting overall and 4-8 shooting from range.

Offensive rebounds killed the Lakers on both ends. The Lakers didn’t record their own until the third quarter while Phoenix had 14, turning that into 22 second-chance points. The pair of Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen combining to go 12-22 from the 3-point line for Phoenix also repeatedly hurt the Lakers.

It was about as poor a start as the Lakers have had all season long to kick things off. Reminiscent of their early-season first-quarter struggles, the Lakers traded baskets very early on before watching the Suns shift into a gear the Lakers did not have.

Offensive struggles bled into defensive lapses, resulting in Phoenix opening up a 20-point lead. On a day when the Lakers needed to come out focused, it would have been hard to draw up a more disastrous start.

The good news is that, starting with a couple of 3-pointers late in the quarter from Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers started to find a groove. That continued into the second period and a corner 3-pointer from D’Lo cut the lead to 10 and forced an early Phoenix timeout.

While the Suns rebounded and added some cushion to the lead again, the Lakers came right back and consecutive long-range efforts from Taurean Prince forced another timeout with the visitors down 56-47.

In an equally rare feat, the Lakers closed a quarter strong in the second. After the Suns built up a bit more cushion, D’Lo scored the final eight points of the quarter for the purple and gold to head into the locker room down only nine points, 72-63.

While the Lakers came out with a focus to get Davis involved in the second half, the Suns still reeled off eight straight points early to push the lead back to 14. Another run from the Lakers in response, though, saw the lead chipped down to eight points.

The third quarter ground to a halt with a trio of replay reviews, once each for a challenge from both teams and a third for a potential clear path foul. As a result, the game lost much of its rhythm.

LeBron re-injected the energy with a pair of breakaway dunks to help the Lakers get as close as they had been since the first quarter, trailing by only five points.

After a timeout, Max Christie set up AD for a dunk in his first action of the night before knocking down his own corner 3-pointer to pull within two points. A deep Grayson Allen 3-pointer late in the quarter would send the Suns into the fourth quarter up five points.

The Lakers had a poorly timed bad stretch of play to start the fourth, allowing Phoenix to open up a double-digit lead with Devin Booker on the bench. LeBron did what he could with a pair of 3-pointers to try to keep the Lakers afloat.

Consecutive buckets from AD past the midway point of the fourth pulled the Lakers back within six points. Out of a timeout, however, the Suns knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead right back to 12 points.

O’Neale delivered the dagger with just under 90 seconds remaining as his sixth 3-pointer gave Phoenix a 13-point lead.

Key Takeaways:

My oh my, that first quarter was truly awful. Somewhere near the midway point of that period, the Lakers entered a malaise that cost them this game. You can’t spot a team like Phoenix 20 points and expect to win, especially on the road.

Anthony Davis being non-existent in the first half was unacceptable. He hasn’t had games like that this season, but he floated right out of this contest through those first two periods.

It’s not this simple, but if you set aside that awful stretch in the first quarter, the Lakers played well. But it shows how bad that stretch was and how important it is to stay focused for 48 minutes.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.