The game was going well enough, until it didn't. Playing without Luka Dončić and Rui Hachimura, and with Austin Reaves back in the lineup but restricted in his minutes (he came off the bench), there was certainly a chance the Lakers could struggle, but man alive, once the struggle kicked in near the end of the first half, things got very ugly very fast.
Halfway through the second, the Lakers were down three. They finished the half down 11. They were outscored in the third by 16. Game set match. Final score, 132-108.
It was arguably the ugliest, most unpleasant watch of the year. The Lakers couldn't get a stop, and while Phoenix certainly made some shots, most of the time the purple and gold didn't require the Suns to work very hard. Meanwhile, on the other end the Lakers struggled to keep up when Phoenix hit the accelerator.
Of all the games the Lakers have lost this season, it wouldn't be a surprise for this one not only to anger Lakers fans the most, but scare them, too. Obviously it makes a difference when Luka plays, but the Lakers looked pretty bad in this game, and teams with championship (or at the least, deep playoff) aspirations sould be able to function without their star better than they did on Tuesday.
So for the first time this year, the Lakers have lost consecutive games. And this was a bad one.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: No Luka, no defense, no win.
SEGMENT 2: What's going wrong, here?
SEGMENT 3: Are the Lakers in trouble?
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