The Los Angeles Lakers hit the road again Tuesday night for a familiar matchup against the Phoenix Suns - the third meeting between these two Pacific Division rivals in recent weeks. With the season series tied at one apiece heading into this one, the Lakers were hoping to gain an edge. Instead, they walked away with a lopsided 132-108 loss and more questions than answers as they dropped to 19-9 on the season.
Shorthanded Again - and It Showed
The Lakers came into this one undermanned, missing key rotation pieces in Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura, and Gabe Vincent. They did get Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton back in the lineup, but their return wasn't enough to stem the tide against a Suns squad that came out firing and didn’t look back.
Jake LaRavia got the starting nod and opened the game with five quick points, trying to set the tone early. But as has become tradition when these two teams meet, LeBron James and Brooks wasted no time going at each other - trading buckets and intensity in a back-and-forth start.
Reaves, coming off a stint on the sidelines, came off the bench and looked like a player still shaking off the rust. He did draw a foul on a three-point attempt, but his rhythm wasn’t quite there yet. Despite that, the Lakers managed to keep it close in the first, trailing just 29-26 after one.
Second Quarter Slide
The second quarter was where things started to unravel. The Lakers got sloppy with the basketball, and Phoenix pounced.
Turnovers turned into transition points, and the Suns built a lead that L.A. struggled to chip away at. LeBron tried to steady the ship, getting to the line to slow the pace, and Reaves added a triple and a layup to help cut the deficit to four.
But that was as close as they’d get.
Phoenix caught fire from the field, and the Lakers’ defense had no answers. Combine that with a rough night at the free-throw line - where L.A. left too many points on the table - and the result was a 67-57 halftime deficit that felt heavier than the score suggested.
Third Quarter Meltdown
If the second quarter was a stumble, the third was a full-on collapse. The Suns came out of the locker room with a 10-2 run that forced an early timeout from JJ Redick. But the bleeding didn’t stop there.
Frustration boiled over for the Lakers, and LaRavia picked up a technical foul as Phoenix continued to pour it on. Brooks was in his bag offensively, scoring from all over the floor and stretching the lead to 112-86 by the end of the third. The Lakers looked out of sync, out of energy, and out of solutions.
Early Exit for the Starters, More Injury Concerns
With the game well out of reach, both teams emptied their benches early in the fourth. But even the final frame didn’t come without bad news for L.A. Jaxson Hayes exited with left ankle soreness, adding another name to the Lakers’ growing injury list.
Looking Ahead
There’s no time to dwell on this one, as the Lakers will be back in action Thursday night for a marquee Christmas Day matchup against the Houston Rockets at home. With injuries piling up and defensive lapses becoming a trend, the Lakers will need to regroup quickly if they want to bounce back on the holiday stage.
This wasn’t just a bad night - it was a reminder of how thin the margin for error is when key players are missing and the defense doesn’t travel. The Lakers have the talent to contend, but they’ll need to tighten things up fast to avoid letting games like this become a pattern.