Reaves drops 25, Lakers outlast Suns to continue postseason push
3 years ago - Sportingbase
The Lakers were able to come away with a 122-111 win over the Suns today in Los Angeles to improve to 36-37 on the season and stay within reach of the Western Conference play-in picture.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak versus Phoenix stretching back to the first round of the 2021 playoffs.
Austin Reaves enjoyed another tremendous outing in the absence of LeBron James for Los Angeles adding 25 points, a career-high 11 assists, and four rebounds on 6-of-10 from the field and 12-of-13 from the stripe whilst finishing a game-high +18.
Anthony Davis put up 27 points, nine rebounds, and five assists on 10-of-18 shooting whilst D’Angelo had 26 points and six assists on 9-of-13 shooting.
Dennis Schröder added 13 points and four rebounds off the bench whilst Jarred Vanderbilt finished with 13 of his own on 5-of-5 shooting.
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The first quarter belonged to Phoenix before Los Angeles strung together an extended 35-20 run to stretch the lead to a dozen.
The Suns clawed their way back into it thanks to a 14-point third quarter courtesy of Devin Booker and cut the lead to as low as one in the fourth.
Anthony Davis – who had 20 in the second half – came out with a newfound aggressiveness and showed off some elite shot-making to boost the Lakers towards a much-needed victory.
Los Angeles finished the game on a 23-12 run to win their 10th from their past 15.
The Lakers won the rebounding edge and the battle in the paint whilst shooting better percentages from the field and from three.
They forced 17 Phoenix turnovers and shot 26 more free throws whilst the Suns had more success on the offensive glass and got more scoring production out of their bench.
With Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton both unavailable, Devin Booker led the way for Phoenix finishing with a game-high 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds and five assists.
Chris Paul finished with 18 points and four assists whilst Landry Shamet added 15 points off the bench.
The Lakers – who are now one game below .500 – are tied with Dallas for the ninth-seed and half-game back of the Thunder and Timberwolves.
Their next matchup is against Oklahoma City on Saturday afternoon.
Phoenix, meanwhile, drop to 38-34 and are currently half-a-game up on the fifth-seeded Clippers.
They will face the Kings on the road also on Saturday.
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