BACK WITH A ROAR
Davis rebounds from Game 1 struggles to get Lakers even with Suns
PHOENIX » It’s the side of Anthony Davis the Lakers need most, the one that not only hits the shot, but then poses in a flex to quiet the loudest arena he’s played in this year.
The 28-year-old promised to be better after a forgettable Game 1, and while long sequences of Game 2 against the rough-and-tumble Phoenix Suns played
out without him seizing the spotlight, at the finish, it was hard to take your eyes off of him.
Davis was critically central to a 109102 Lakers win in the final three minutes, blocking DeAndre Ayton, recovering a steal and sandwiched in between, drilling a high wing 3-pointer that he celebrated with the gusto that has been lacking so far in this postseason. And it just might be what could start pushing the No. 7 seeded Lakers over top of the No. 2 Suns in this first-round series. He finished with a game-high 34 points after just 13 on Sunday.
LeBron James delivered a long 3-point
dagger, a shot in the final minute that took the breath out of Phoenix’s defiant chest. Up to that point, the scrappy Suns — largely without the help of Chris Paul whose shoulder injury has limited his game — had kept hope alive with hustle and heart.
But now with a 1-1 series, the weight of the Lakers’ championship ambitions came into clearer focus, especially with an emphatic performance by the starting lineup that yielded 96 points.
The biggest difference from Davis was aggression: He got to the free-throw line for 21 attempts and made 18 of them. He also had 7 as- sists, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks, more deftly navigating the traps that Phoenix set for him and concluding confidently in the lineup that features him at center.
The Lakers were sharper, giving up just nine turno- vers while scoring 21 points off the Suns own giveaways. The starting lineup that many have questioned was strong, with Andre Drummond chipping in 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Dennis Schröder had 24 points.
Devin Booker led with 31 points for the Suns, while Ayton had 22. Paul played just 23 minutes with 6 points.
Guts helped close a gap that talent otherwise would not have covered. The ringleader of the act was reserve Cam Payne (19 points) — who was ejected in Game 1 for a fourth-quarter scrap — and made up for it with speedy attacks and a pullup shot midway through the fourth quarter that tied the game up at 86. On the next offensive possession, Payne missed at the basket, but Ayton dunked a go-ahead followup that put the Suns ahead for the first time in the second half.
By comparison, the Lakers’ own role players were missing in action. The Lakers bench scored just 13 points in the entire game, and a second straight underwhelming game by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (0 for 4) was hard to miss. The most critical offensive function of the complimentary players, to provide spacing, wasn’t checked, as outside of James, Davis and Schröder, the rest of the team was just 2 for 16.
The surprise of the first half might have been Drummond, who has felt crushing pressure after lineups with both him and Davs have looked cramped and inefficient on offense. A notoriously unsteady finisher at the rim, Drummond responded in Game 2 with a number of memorable buckets going against Ayton, including one possession when he grabbed his own miss twice before finally nailing a putback.
The second quarter saw an eruption from Schröder, who scored 14 of the Lakers’ 23 points in that frame with jumpers, and floaters. While he’s struggled to find the top gear he had before his latest 11-day stint in the NBA’s health and safety protocols earlier this month, that speed was apparent early when he took Booker off the dribble.
On Thursday, Staples Center will be the stage for Game 3, where the Lakers have not played an official postseason game since 2013, with last year’s championship coming in the NBA bubble in Florida.