The Los Angeles Lakers took on the Phoenix Suns at Crypto.com in the quarterfinal game on Tuesday. As the league desired, the in-season tournament quarterfinal definitely had more intensity than a normal regular-season game. Both teams seemed to have extra motivation to win the knockout round contest.
The Lakers jumped out to as much as a 15-point lead early thanks to their defense, but they went cold in the second quarter, allowing Phoenix to come to within four. Los Angeles increased its lead to 12 at halftime, but its offensive woes continued in the third quarter. The Suns took the lead just over three minutes into the period.
From that point, the contest became a back-and-forth defensive struggle, especially for L.A. It scored 47 points after halftime, but came up with enough big plays from its best players to grind out a 106-103 win and improve to 13-9.
It did so despite shooting a terrible 37.3% from the field and 30% from 3-point range. However, LA forced 11 more turnovers than it committed, and it had a big edge in offensive rebounds and second-chance points.
The Lakers will head to Las Vegas for the semifinal round of the in-season tournament. It will face the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday. A win would put them in the championship game, which will be played on Saturday, against either the Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks.
Anthony Davis: B-plus
Davis’ aggression helped draw two early fouls on Suns starting center Jusuf Nurkic, which drew him an easier matchup against the undersized Drew Eubanks. He scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with 27 points, but he shot just 10-of-26 from the field. He went 2-of-10 in the second half, and although he pounded the offensive glass well, he missed quite a few close chippies and second-chance opportunities.
But there was certainly nothing wrong with Davis’ overall effort. He snatched 15 rebounds, nine on the offensive boards, while blocking two shots.
With 6.6 seconds left and L.A. up by two, he was intentionally fouled, and he made one of the two ensuing free throws, forcing the Suns to attempt a 3-pointer to tie the game, which they missed. While Davis’ critics will complain he didn’t make both free throws, he did well enough to get his team a victory.
Cam Reddish: C
Reddish guarded Devin Booker to start the contest. He missed all four of his shots, but he contributed two rebounds, one assist and one steal. His defensive energy and anticipation seem a constant at this point, and those two attributes tend to bother opponents. Booker shot 6-of-16 from the field, so perhaps he had some trouble dealing with Reddish.
Taurean Prince: C/C-plus
Prince was matched up against Kevin Durant to start the game. He wasn’t able to do much to slow the future Hall of Famer; Durant went 12-of-17 and scored 31 points.
Offensively, Prince was 2-of-6 from the floor and scored five points with three rebounds and three steals. He missed both of his 3-point attempts as his inconsistency from the outside continues.
D'Angelo Russell: C-minus
Russell was 3-of-11 from the field, and he scored just eight points, although he added five assists with no turnovers in 24 minutes. Perhaps his shooting troubles are why head coach Darvin Ham kept him on the bench down the stretch.
LeBron James: A
James continues to put forth vintage performances when his team needs him to. He scored 31 points on 12-of-25 shooting, dished 11 assists and collected eight rebounds to power the Lakers. Down the stretch, he took over, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter in what has become a trend this season: His saving his best for the final frames of games.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer also had active hands. He came up with five steals. He played 40 minutes, which was more than anyone else in the contest, most of whom are much younger than him.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B-plus/A-minus
In his second game back after dealing with heel bursitis, Vanderbilt played 15 minutes in several short spurts. Ham is working him back into game shape and rhythm. Despite not playing for a bunch of minutes, his impact was easy to see.
He first entered the game late in the first quarter and drew the assignment of guarding Durant. The Suns quickly committed a shot-clock violation. When Durant went out of the game, Vanderbilt guarded Booker. The forward forced Booker into a turnover and drew a loose ball foul on the Suns star on one play in the first quarter. With Vanderbilt’s help, the Lakers forced a whopping 10 turnovers in that period.
His impact was also seen on the boards. He produced five rebounds in the first half, four of them on the offensive boards, allowing L.A. to score 15 second-chance points in the first half. The team came into this game ranked 29th in offensive rebounding percentage, and Vanderbilt’s return should help in that category.
He finished with six rebounds, two points, two assists and one steal. He didn’t make a basket, but he was definitely an X-factor for the Lakers.
Austin Reaves: A-minus
Reaves had one of his best games of the season on Tuesday. He shot 7-of-16 overall and 3-of-8 from downtown, giving him 20 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes. His 13 third-quarter points helped keep L.A. neck-and-neck with the Suns even as it struggled to hit shots.
The undrafted guard also hit the biggest shot of the night. With 15.1 seconds left and the Lakers hanging on to a 102-101 lead, he made a long 3-pointer to provide them with the insurance they needed to win. It’s shots like that one that should help him regain his mojo and return to the consistent level of play he was at last season.
Rui Hachimura: C-plus
After missing the Lakers’ last five games with a nasal fracture, Hachimura returned to the court on Tuesday, sporting a mask to protect his nose. He made three of his eight field-goal attempts, giving him seven points plus two rebounds and one assist in 21 minutes.
Jaxson Hayes: C-plus
Hayes didn’t have much of an impact in his nine minutes of playing time. He went scoreless as he missed both of his shot attempts, and he finished with two rebounds and one steal.
Max Christie: B
With the Lakers almost at full strength now, Christie is going to see his playing time dramatically decrease. He did get onto the court for eight minutes against Phoenix, and he hit one of his two shot attempts, both of which were from 3-point range, while adding one assist.
