On Tuesday night, the Phoenix Suns (12-9) played the Los Angeles Lakers (13-9) in what was a dramatic and eventful game with a controversial finish.
Lebron James scored a team leading 31 points for L.A. and his counterpart Anthony Davis added 27 points and 15 rebounds of his own as the Lakers defeated the Suns 106-103 in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament Quarterfinal.
On the Sun’s side, Kevin Durant scored 31 points (12-of-17) to go along with seven rebounds while teammate Devin Booker dropped a 21 point, 11 rebound and six assist performance that wound up just short in the end.
It was a nightmare first half for Phoenix as they mounted up 14 turnovers, 10 in the first quarter, and trailed by as many as 15 halfway through the second quarter.
A quick 13-3 run narrowed the margin to four, but the Lakers sustained their aggressiveness, taking a 59-47 lead into halftime.
As it has been most of the season, offensive rebounding was an issue for the Suns Tuesday night.
The Lakers posted a 21-8 advantage on the offensive glass (+13) which led to many easy buckets inside for Anthony Davis (10-of-26) and L.A.
“We didn’t do enough early in the game. The turnovers and the glass… we talk about that play all we want, but if we do a better job with the turnovers and the glass we aren’t talking about a close game,” said head coach Frank Vogel of the near loss.
The second half set them up for a close game.
Less than three minutes into the third, the Suns sprinted out to a 14-0 run, including a pair of Grayson Allen threes.
Allen hit all five of his attempts from the arc and finished the game with 21 points.
Phoenix outscored the Lakers 35-24 in the third and only trailed by one entering the fourth.
A Kevin Durant three with 1:02 remaining put the Suns down by only three points.
After getting a stop on defense, Booker started a break and was fouled in what was a take-foul situation. A free throw and the ball could have been called, but the play was not reviewable with the game under two minutes.
Booker (6-of-16) hit a layup with 29 seconds left to cut the lead to one, but Austin Reaves (20 points) knocked down a step-back three to extend the lead 105-101.
Durant hit another shot to cut the lead to two again.
With Phoenix applying full-court pressure, they trapped Austin Reaves, who appeared to turn the ball over. But the refs granted the Lakers a timeout when it looked like they may not have had possession, in a controversial call to end the game.
“That’s not the whole game. That’s one play. It was a 48-minute game. I don’t like complaining about calls. Sometimes the ref isn’t going to get it right all the time. Sometimes it’s on us to play through all that stuff,” said Durant about the late controversial call in his postgame interview.
Davis hit one of his two free throws, giving the Suns a chance to tie the game, but Durant’s three came up short at the buzzer.
“I’m proud of our guys (they) battled through foul trouble early. Book and Durant in foul trouble late. KD’s playing on a rolled ankle. Battled through that. But our guys competed,” Vogel said.
The Suns will not see action again until they host the Sacramento Kings (11-8) Friday night at Footprint Center.
