Grayson Allen, Gillespie Explode Short Handed Suns Give Lakers Third Straight Loss

Written by Malcolm Xavier of The Lakers Room

No Devin Booker and no Dillon Brooks, should be no issue for the Lakers. Maybe. The main storyline of the day being Deandre Ayton (or Clint Capela) aligning with a return to Phoenix for the number one pick hopefully leading to a big showing after his double-double with 21 and 12 vs the Magic in one point loss two nights ago. The Lakers are looking to snap a two game losing streak and other than an angry Mark Williams they should be able to honor the -5.5 favorite given to them by Las Vegas, hopefully.

Phoenix got out to a quick start, jumping out to a 9-4 lead, punctuated by a Mark Williams dunk from a Ryan Dunn assist. Luka answered with a 7 foot driving and one floater to cut the deficit to 9-7. Phoenix countered with a quick 8-2 run to give them a 17-9 lead on a Collin Gillespie 28 foot bomb that caused the Lakers first timeout. LA countered with an 12-0 run of their own out of the timeout with 8 of the points scored by LeBron James and Luka Doncic and capped by a Luke Kennard layup and two Jake Laravia free throws to put the Lakers up 21-17 before Oso Ighodaro stopped the bleeding with a layup. Doncic and Hayes scored down low to push the lead to six before a Grayson Allen 26 footer closed the gap to 25-22 before another Lakers timeout. LeBron found Kennard with a sweet behind the back to close the quarter with the Lakers up 27-22.

Allen started the scoring for the Suns with a three to begin the second to cut the lead to two. Marcus Smart was fouled on a three to push the Lakers lead to 29-25. Phoenix answered with a 10-2 run capped by a Gillespie 16 footy pullup to cause another Lakers timeout with the Suns now up 35-31 with 8:44 remaining in the first half. Reaves scored on a beautiful drive to cut the lead to 35-33. After a long pause and review for a hostile act Vanderbilt fouled Jamaree Bouyea on a three point shot where he made two of three before Luka missed a three and Jalen Green hit a bomb of his own. The Suns now led 40-33 before Royce O'Neale followed up with a bomb of his own to give Phoenix a double digit lead before the fourth Lakers timeout. Jaxson Hayes hit two free throws to cut the lead back to eight before a Mark Williams tip in pushed it back to 45-35 with 5 minutes left in the second quarter. Luka missed his last six shots since starting out 5/5 as the Lakers offense stalled. LA closed the quarter on an 13-2 run of their own to get the lead down to one 49-46 with 35 seconds in the quarter highlighted by a corner three on a Magic Johnson like pass from Luka. Grayson Allen closed the half with a driving layup and the score tied now at 49 all.

LA blitzed its way to an 11-0 run to begin the second half. Doncic floater, Smart Floater, Doncic stepback three, LeBron downhill layup and punctuated by Deandre Ayton's firs bucket of the night an emphatic throwdown on a Luka lob leading to a Jordan Ott timeout. Grayson Allen hit a three out of the stoppage to cut the lead to 60-52 before Luka found LeBron to push it back to ten at 62-52 with 7:32 left in the third. LeBron scored twice in the paint along with an Austin Reaves 8 footer and two Luka free throws while Rasheer Fleming traded a three pointer and Grayson Allen added a floater but the Lakers led 70-58 with just over five minutes remaining in the quarter. After a Doncic missed three the Suns went on a frantic 10-0 run to close the lead to 70-68 led by defense and big threes from Grayson Allen leading to a Lakers timeout. Luka drew a foul on Fleming and hit both to stop the run and give LA a 72-68 lead. Bouyea made one of two at the line before Grayson Allen hit another huge three to tie it at 72. Luka hit a three to quiet the Suns crowd momentarily as Amir Coffee matched it before Rasheer Fleming added another and the Suns lead 78-75 before Doncic quited the ruckus with another successful trip to the line to cut the lead to one 78-77 Suns. Luka had 32 points through three quarters. Marcus Smart hit a 3 late to tie the game at 80 going into the fourth after a pair of Grayson Allen free throws.

The fourth quarter opened up all Phoenix. After LA went up 86-83 on two consecutive buckets by Luke Kennard the Suns went on a 13-0 run. Collin Gillespie hit two threes in the run including one on a flagrant by Deandre Ayton on a reckless closeout. Oso Ighodaro also dunked on Jake Laravia in the same stretch. JJ Redick called a timeout after the Suns lead 96-86. Smart hit a three out of the timeout that Collin Gillespie immediately answered and Jalen Green followed up with a layup to push the lead to 101-89, Phoenix largest lead. Smart hit a 10 foot and one pullup to close it to 101-91 before another Jordan Ott timeout with 5:27 to go. Smart connected on the free throw out of the timeout followed by an and one by Luka cut the lead to 101-95. Collin Gillespie then got to the line to push the lead to 103-95 Phoneix with 4:08 after drawing a fould on Jaxson Hayes. Luka hit another bomb to close it to 103-98. Then another to close the lead to 103-101 but the Lakers inability to guard the three reared its head again and Gillespie countered to push the lead to 106-101 Phoenix. Luka and Reaves both hit big threes and a LeBron tip in tied the game up at 110-110 with 22.7 seconds left. The Suns cut the Lakers heart out after holding for the last shot and finding Royce Oneale for a three that hit all net with .9 seconds to go. LA called a timeout as the Suns crowd went beserk. Austin Reaves missed the shot as time expired and the Lakers lost again, to a team missing its two stop scorers. Luka Doncic finish with 41 points 8 rebounds and 8 assist, no other Lakers player had more than 15.