Luka Doncic’s 41-point effort can’t save Lakers from last-second loss to Suns
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- Lakers lost to the Suns 113-110 after Austin Reaves missed a last-second three-pointer, marking their third consecutive defeat.
- Luka Doncic’s 41-point performance couldn’t overcome the Suns’ 22 three-pointers, even though Phoenix played without stars Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks.
PHOENIX — The losses are mounting for the Lakers in the most excruciating of ways. They’ve lost their last two games in the final second, and it’s eating at them because they used to be so good in late, critical moments.
The Lakers fell to the Phoenix Suns 113-110 on Thursday after Austin Reaves missed a three-point shot as time expired. The injury-depleted Suns earned the win on a three-pointer by Royce O’Neale with ninth-tenths of a second left.
The Lakers have lost three consecutive games for the third time this season. They were blown out by the Boston Celtics on Sunday before losing by one at home to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday when Luka Doncic passed up a three and threw the ball to LeBron James, who missed a hurried, last-second three.
The two-time national college coach of the year and 2019 NCAA champion said to help “the Lakers in any way I can is exciting.”
Against the Suns, the Lakers rallied from 12 points down in the fourth quarter after Doncic went to work. He hit back-to-back threes during the comeback and finished with 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
The Lakers made it a clutch game, the kind in which they’ve been an NBA-best 16-5. Still, they lost again.
“Our losses are louder than other teams’ because we’re the Lakers and because of the way we lose,” coach JJ Redick said. “Tonight was a one-possession clutch game, which, now we’ve lost a few of those. But we’ve been great for the most part in the clutch all year.”
The Lakers (34-24) tied the score twice in the final minute, first on a three by Reaves and then on a tip-in by James, who had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, with 22.7 seconds left.
Phoenix put the ball into the hands of Grayson Allen, who blew past Doncic and got into the teeth of the Lakers’ defense. Doncic and James collided and fell down, giving Allen a chance to whip a pass to Collin Gillespie, who swung the ball to a wide-open O’Neale.
O’Neale’s winning shot settled into the net cleanly.
“There was no one to rotate, essentially,” Redick said. “So, got a clean look and he made it.”
On the final play, Marcus Smart inbounded the ball and James and Maxi Kleber set a double-screen to get Reaves open. Reaves floated to the corner and took a cross-court pass, but his shot bounced off the rim
“Just missed,” Reaves said. He was five-for-12 shooting from the field and two for five from three-point range.
After another tough loss, Reaves called the team’s level of frustration “Very high.”
Allen finished with 28 points and six assists off the bench, and Gillespie had 21 points for Phoenix (34-26).
The Lakers couldn’t stop Phoenix from making threes. The Suns were 22 for 50 from three-point range despite playing without All-Star guard Devin Booker (right hip strain), Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) and Jordan Goodwin (left calf strain).
“They shot 50 threes, you know? So, obviously they made a lot,” Doncic said. “So they were just moving around. I think a couple stretches we did a pretty good job being physical, but then just a couple stretches of not being physical and they just were [taking over].”
New Lakers exec Lon Rosen said he hopes season ticket holders will “renew” them despite the enormous increase for next season.
Next up for the Lakers are the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Saturday. It’s another opportunity for the Lakers to move on from disappointment.
“The only way to get out of it is to keep playing,” Smart said. “Like I said earlier, you can’t get too high, too low. That’s when the snowball effect happens. We’re still in good shape.
“We got to continue to trust and we can’t allow games like this to deter us from trusting in each other and trusting the way that we play. ... It hurts. But like I said, we get to go out and redeem our stuff and we got to make up for it.”
Notes
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura didn’t play because of an illness, the team said. But backup center Jaxson Hayes, who missed the previous game because of right ankle soreness, played 21 minutes, finishing with eight rebounds and six points.
