Suns outshine, outshoot short-handed Lakers

L.A. has trouble finding its rhythm with its top offensive weapons, James and Davis, sidelined.

LeBron James sat a few feet away from the Lakers’ bench, his hoodie over his head, a mask covering his face, a walking boot on his high right ankle sprain that kept him out of the game and unable to help his teammates against the Phoenix Suns.

The Lakers’ entire starting frontcourt of James, Anthony Davis (strained right calf) and Marc Gasol all sat on different parts of the bench agonizing over seeing their brothers struggling to find some offensive rhythm in Phoenix during a 111-94 defeat.

They watched the Lakers fall into a 15-point hole at the half, their 37.2% shooting and 16.7% on threepointers (two for 12) a sign of how difficult it was for them to score with their top two offensive weapons in James and Davis sidelined.

Since there is no timetable for James’ or Davis’ return, the Lakers will have to find wins and offense from wherever they can. Coach Frank Vogel reiterated before the game that James is out “indefinitely” and that high ankle sprains usually “take awhile to heal.”

So, the Lakers pressed on Sunday night, going with the usual starting backcourt of Dennis Schroder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to go along with Markieff Morris moving to center and with Kyle Kuzma and Wesley Matthews as the forwards.

In past games that he missed, Davis would take the iPad from the coaches and show his teammates something. During this game against the Suns, Davis walked backed to James to display something to him on the screen.

But no strategy was going to help the short-handed Lakers on this night.

The size of the 6-foot-11 Deandre Ayton (26 points, eight rebounds) and skills of All-Star guard Devin Booker (26 points and nine rebounds) was just too much for the Lakers to handle.

When the two of them made back-to-back baskets late in the fourth — Booker a jumper and Ayton inside — the Suns opened a 10791 lead that the Lakers could not overcome.

Chris Paul chipped in with a triple-double for the Suns with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

Schroder and super-sub Montrezl Harrell did all they could to keep the Lakers in the game.

Harrell had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the season. Schroder had 22 points. The talented Talen HortonTucker had a strong game with 17 points and six rebounds.

Kuzma also had a nice allaround game with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.

The Lakers next play the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night on the road.

Notes

Though Gasol is out of the health and safety protocols and has been working out, Vogel said his center still won’t be playing for a while.

Gasol has been out for about three weeks, and Vogel said, “he was pretty wiped out from a conditioning standpoint, so he’s not ready to play in games yet.”

“We’re going to take it day to day with him,” Vogel said. “But it’s likely he’s still going to miss a couple more games.”…Just because the Lakers didn’t re-sign center Damian Jones after his second 10day contract expired, doesn’t mean there isn’t interest in bringing him back, Vogel said.

Vogel said the Lakers want to see what happens with the NBA trade deadline coming up Thursday and the buyout market before making a commitment to Jones.

Jones played in eight games with the Lakers, starting two over his two 10-day contracts. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds.

“DJ did a good job for us and the door’s not closed,” Vogel said.