LOS ANGELES – No Devin Booker. No Bradley Beal.
There’s not enough of everyone outside of Kevin Durant to top the Los Angeles Lakers.
Durant scored 39 points, including 15 in the third quarter, but the Phoenix Suns lost, 100-95, on Thursday night before a crowd of 18,997 at Crypto.com Arena.
Booker missed Thursday’s game due to left foot soreness after being injured late in Tuesday’s win over Golden State, while Beal did not play in Phoenix’s two regular-season games due to lower back tightness.
It was Phoenix’s first loss with Durant in the starting lineup in 10 games dating back to last season after Brooklyn traded him to the Suns before last season’s trade deadline.
Here are five things I learned from Thursday’s game as the Suns (1-1) play their home opener Saturday against the Utah Jazz at Footprint Center.
The Suns lack scoring outside of the Big 3
Durant was bent over with fatigue late in the game from having to carry the offense.
Eight crazy turnovers with three on fourth down. However, he ended up making history.
Durant passes Hakeem Olajuwon for 12y On the NBA’s all-time scoring list as he needed 37 points heading into the game.
He has 37y The point tied the game with 90 seconds left, but Durant missed the ensuing free throw after being fouled by Austin Reeves.
He gave a lot of energy throughout the match. He had 11 paintings. Played 40 minutes.
LeBron James responded with two straight touches at the rim to hit a missed Durant 3 to give the Lakers a four-point lead with 41 seconds left.
That was basically a ball game.
Durant accounted for 41% of the team’s points while shooting 14 of 28 (50%) from the field.
The rest of the Sun got 20 out of 53 (37.7%).
He made 10 of 13 free throws. The rest of the Suns attempted only 10 (they made eight).
Without Booker and Beal, Durant was expected to shoulder the load, but games like this raise more questions about Phoenix’s overall depth in terms of sustaining the power play.
This was a test to see how they would play without key players, something that could happen again early Saturday against the Jazz.
It didn’t succeed or fail. Just didn’t do enough.
Vogel takes the blame
Durant is special in iso situations, but Vogel may have relied too much on that, especially considering Durant has already put the team on his back offensively.
Vogel took responsibility for the lack of spacing and getting better shots on offense in the fourth period.
It cannot be said that the Sun got 5 of 20 in fourth place (1 of 8 from 3).
They have become stagnant and predictable by scoring just 11 points in the quarter. Durant felt the Lakers were almost in a defensive zone where they were 1-for-5.
The good news for Phoenix is that Vogel realizes that and will make adjustments, and secondly, with Booker and Beal, the Suns aren’t in that predicament.
Vogel played Gordon for all 12 minutes of the fourth period. He fired two shots, missing both.
Josh Okogie played seven minutes in the fourth period. He did not try to shoot.
Jusuf Nurkic, eight minutes, zero shot attempts.
Jordan Goodwin had a great look as he gave the Suns a spark with 12 points through three quarters, but he went cold in the fourth quarter, going 1-of-5 from the field.
Grayson Allen only fired one shot and missed three.
The Lakers are a very good defensive team, but the Suns fell behind in the fourth. They needed a second man to help Durant get them home.
Yuta Watanabe, who played just three minutes in the fourth period, could have been that guy.
The Lakers are the biggest problem
It’s still early, but the Lakers shot 10 of 29 from 3 in a season-opening loss to Denver and went 5 of 29 on Thursday.
There’s not one guy on the team that when he shoots the ball, you go, oh, that’s cash.
They have guys who can be hot, but where are the pure shooters?
Thursday’s poor shooting didn’t cost them in large part because the Suns didn’t have Booker or Beal with Durant.
Phoenix lost, but the Suns could leave Los Angeles knowing they held as much as a 12-point lead over a nearly healthy Lakers team that only made five field goals in the fourth period and still had a chance to win.
Meanwhile, the Lakers know they can’t keep shooting poorly from the 3 when they have two players in James and Anthony Davis attracting so much attention.
The Sun needs a transition to help fuel the attack
The Suns not having a true point guard is the world they will have to live in this season.
Godwin can do that as a backup, but it will be Booker, Beal and Durant who start the offense.
The multi-ball handling combo sounds nice in theory. It really is, but the Suns want to get out of transition to get some easy runs.
How many express breakfast points did they get on Thursday night?
six. Only six.
this is not enough. The Suns had 13 in Tuesday’s win.
The Lakers had 16 points on the fast break.
Nurkic is struggling against Davis again, and needs a more assertive role
And Davis did it against the best in the league — 30 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, three blocks.
He’s a top-five talent that Davis doesn’t show on a consistent basis.
Davis went from not scoring in the second half against Nikola Jokic and the defending champion Nuggets after scoring 17 points in the first half on Tuesday to losing by 13 points in the fourth period against the Suns.
This is just a bad game for Nurkic. Davis had his way with him in the preseason and took it to another level Thursday as Nurkic finished with just four points on 1-of-5 shooting and five fouls.
Nurkic had five players on the Warriors as well, but Kevon Looney is not the defensive center that Davis plays.
However, between the fouls and lack of shot attempts on Thursday, Nurkic has yet to establish a consistent role.
Some of it is on him. Got to stay out of foul trouble. When he picked up five fouls late in the game, that was the green light for James to go for it late in the game.
He finished the game with nine rebounds, but Durant led the team in rebounds with 11. Durant has recorded double-doubles in his first two games this season, but Nurkic needs to lead the rebounding attack.
Some of that is joining a new team and finding his offensive role. Is it to facilitate, to record, the council?
All of these things, two of the three?
Some of that is due to the Suns coaches figuring out a way to leverage Nurkic’s offensive strengths to combine with the Big Three.
Booker, Durant and Beal will take the most shots, but Nurkic has offensive talent.
Thursday was the night to showcase it a little more and the Suns didn’t.
Getting into terrible trouble is part of it, but five shots?
not enough.
One last thing: Durant, James Show
Durant and James hugged after the game.
They once again put on a show in their first meeting since Christmas 2018.
Two all-time greats made plays against each other in a close game. James had his usual full head when Durant was called for a foul while trying to clear the ball.
The fans booed, but Vogel challenged the call and won and the ball was taken away from James.
These are the type of late-match, close-game exchanges that people love to see great players competing against each other.
Long time coming. Well worth the wait.
Do you have an opinion about the current state of the Sun? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin on [email protected] Or call him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @Duane Rankin.
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