The reigning champion is out of the playoffs! The Los Angeles Lakers also lost Game 6 to the Phoenix Suns 100-113. A catastrophic start by the Lakers and the outstanding Devin Booker put Phoenix on the road to victory. The comeback of LeBron James and Co. is not crowned with success.
Booker was already on fire in the first quarter and gave the Lakers 22 points. In the end, the Suns Guard had 47 points (plus 11 rebounds and 3 assists) with an outstanding 15/22 from the field and 8/10 from downtown. He is only the second player in franchise history, following Charles Barkley, to have such numbers in the playoffs.
Jae Crowder also earned the Suns with 6 threes for 18 points, while Chris Paul had 8 points (4/12 FG) and 12 assists in 29 minutes. His shoulder injury appeared to be affecting him, but the veteran’s experience was a key factor in bringing home the fourth-quarter win.
After a temporary 29-point deficit in the first half, when the game seemed already decided, the Lakers showed morale. Led by LeBron James (29, 9 rebounds and 7 assists at 11/26 FG), Dennis Schroeder (20, 6/14 FG) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (19), LA started a comeback, but the Lakers never got less than ten points closer.
Anthony Davis was no help, although the Big Man tried to play despite his groin problems, but he had to give up following five minutes because the pain was too great. LeBron ended up suffering his first postseason first-round defeat of his career following 14 wins in 14 appearances. The Suns, meanwhile, meet the Denver Nuggets in the second round, who prevailed once morest Portland.
Horror start for the Los Angeles Lakers – Booker on fire
The evening started with good news for the Lakers, Davis was cleared by team doctors and was able to play. AD was back in the starting five, with Marc Gasol replacing Andre Drummond as center. However, it quickly became apparent that AD was playing with pain. He twisted his face into a grimace several times following only five and a half minutes he had to go to the bench following a block attempt, shortly followingwards he hobbled into the cabin.
That’s not all for the Lakers. Phoenix got off to a much better start, especially Crowder was hot following initial problems in this series. His first three threes slipped through the trap, Booker also let it rain: Two triples in a row brought the guests away 27:10! Although Paul also had problems with his injured shoulder, Booker overran the home side single-handedly. His 22 points in 6/6 threes gave the Suns a 36-14 lead following the first quarter.
The Lakers, on the other hand, did not do anything offensively. Schröder aggressively sought the end, but was unsuccessful in throwing (1/6 FG in the first half), and there was little to see from LeBron either. The Suns lead grew to 29 points at the beginning of the second quarter, and even a zone defense mightn’t stop the guests. An 8-0 personal run by Caldwell-Pope brought some life back to LA, but it wasn’t enough to shake Phoenix. Booker provided the answer with another triple, it was 62:41 at half-time.
Los Angeles Lakers attempt a comeback – unsuccessful
After all, the Lakers showed significantly more intensity, struggle and passion on defense following the change of sides, led by Schröder putting pressure on the ball carrier. That energy also helped at the other end of the court (9 Schröder points in the third quarter), where LeBron was also slowly waking up. LA even reduced it to 12 points, but Wesley Matthews from Downtown missed making the deficit one-digit. With 76:89 from the Lakers point of view we went into the final section.
James continued to try to attack the opponent’s basket, but also misplaced several attempts directly at the ring. The defense was there for that, in transition LA put it down to -10 following a Suns turnover. The guests’ response? Paul now took the offense into his own hands, created a corner three for Mikal Bridges and with a middle-distance jumper made a 7-0 run by the Suns perfect for 101:84 in the middle of the period.
The Lakers got a little closer once more, this time thanks to a smashing putback from Talen Horton-Tucker. The Suns responded once more, first with a Crowder triple and then Booker at the free throw line. Crowder was ultimately responsible for the Dagger once more, a good one and a half minutes before the end he increased the Suns lead to 16 points. That’s it, the Los Angeles Lakers need to pack their bags for the summer vacation.
The most important statistics
Los Angeles Lakers (7) vs. Phoenix Suns (2) 100:113 (BOXSCORE), Serie: 2-4
- The first quarter of Booker can hardly be described in words, the adjective outstanding is the most appropriate. The Suns guard scored 8 points more than the entire Lakers team (22:14), hit as many three-pointers as the Lakers field attempts (6) and shot down the reigning champion single-handedly.
- Since the colleagues – primarily Jae Crowder, who started the series with 2/20 – had a hot hand from a distance, Phoenix set the record for most three-pointers in a playoff quarter (10). In the end, Phoenix was 18/35 threes (51.4 percent), the Lakers only 10/35.
- According to ESPN Stats & Info The Lakers’ 29-point deficit in the first half was the second-highest deficit for LeBron in a first half of a playoff game ever. The highest came in Game 5 once morest the Suns (-30). The 21-point deficit at halftime was also a negative record in front of their own audience in the Lakers’ playoff history.
- The increased defensive pressure on the Lakers in the second half was noticeable in the turnovers, among other things. Schröder forced several loose balls with his partly full-court press, Phoenix lost the ball seven times following the break – the Lakers only twice (14:7 overall).
- At least there was one positive aspect to report from LeBron’s point of view. The King catapulted himself into the top 10 all-time playoff blocks with a block in the second quarter and ranks loudly StatMuse now placed in the top 10 in every major category for counting stats in the playoffs.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns: The Voices
Devin Booker (Suns): “I’ve been working towards this moment my whole life. Now it was time not to shy away from it. I wanted to show that on the court today.”
Frank Vogel (Lakers-Coach): “Anthony Davis is a warrior. He certainly didn’t move very well at the beginning of the game. In the end, the injuries we had to deal with were too much for us. I think we had a squad that might have the title would have been able to defend if it hadn’t been for the injuries.”
The star of the game: Devin Booker
The 24-year-old was already the dominant figure on the floor in Game 5, and he continued seamlessly from this performance. His personal three-pointer fireworks in the first quarter drove the Lakers to despair and the Suns to winning ways. He sank butter-soft stepbacks or ice-cold triples with his hand in his face, the difficulty of the throw didn’t seem to matter.
The flop of the game: Kyle Kuzma
It definitely wasn’t Kuzma’s series. The Lakers forward put up just 7.2 points in the first five games with a shot rate of 31 percent. Offensively, LA might have used a push from the 25-year-old – the fans waited in vain for it in game 6. With only 2 points in 18 minutes (1/6 FG), Kuzma was once more pale.
The scene of the game
A red hot Devin Booker versus a battered Anthony Davis. This mismatch was simply unfair, although AD actually did a pretty good job contesting the Suns guard’s throw a few minutes following tip-off. Booker procured but with just enough space for a stepback, to hammer the triple through the trap. It was the start of his incredible three-way streak.
Suns vs. Lakers: The Games of the Series – Standing: 4:2
| game | date | time | Home | away | result |
| 1 | 23. May | 9:30 p.m | Suns | Lakers | 99:90 |
| 2 | 26. May | 4 o’clock | Suns | Lakers | 102:109 |
| 3 | 28. May | 4 o’clock | Lakers | Suns | 109:95 |
| 4 | 30. May | 9:30 p.m | Lakers | Suns | 92:100 |
| 5 | 2. June | 4 o’clock | Suns | Lakers | 115:85 |
| 6 | 4. June | 4:30 a.m | Lakers | Suns | 100:113 |
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