PHOENIX — Among the Lakers themselves, last year’s first-round series with the Phoenix Suns is the one that got away.
While coach Frank Vogel called last season’s Suns – who wound up just two wins away from a championship – good enough to beat them if Anthony Davis had been healthy, but offered “we’ll never know” how it might have turned out if Davis hadn’t strained his groin. Davis was even more assertive looking back, saying that it was the Lakers’ series to win once they went up 2-1: “I think we know that, I think they know that.”
But moving on from the past, both the Lakers and Suns definitively know what would happen – as things stand – if they rematched in a best-of-seven series now: Los Angeles would get smoked.
On Sunday, top-ranked Phoenix (54-14) showed how far the Lakers (29-38) are behind the curve, stomping them in a 140-111 rout as an army of orange-and-purple-and-black fans cheered on the destruction in the Footprint Center’s 22nd consecutive sellout. It was over almost as soon as it began, as the Suns went on to outscore the Lakers by 26 points in the first quarter alone.
While the Lakers were again without Davis, so too were the Suns without veteran leader Chris Paul. At this point, they’re the best team in the NBA no matter who they trot out. And the Lakers – has been no surprise to anyone watching lately – simply cannot compete.
“You can’t dig a hole like that versus a team like this,” LeBron James said.
Even though James poured in 31 points, the Lakers spent most of the night trailing by embarrassing margins. They never came within 15 after the 3:44 mark of the first quarter.
Devin Booker led Phoenix with 30 points, but the Suns hard-running, tough-defending style was characteristic of their team. In losing their 10th straight road game, the Lakers looked as if they were going through the motions, especially on the defensive end.
Malik Monk said the Lakers haven’t given their best effort in flat road starts, including himself: “Sick of saying that (expletive), though.”
The Lakers tried to come out with a little pace, taking a 6-2 lead. But from there, the Suns rattled off a 14-0 run spanning two Lakers timeouts, quickly seizing a double-digit lead by the 7:33 mark. Starting their small lineup again, the Lakers were crushed on the boards, particularly but stout center Deandre Ayton (16 rebounds, 23 points, 11 for 14 shooting).
“They started blitzing us after that,” James said.
That was Phoenix’s launch pad, and the Suns kept rising thanks to Lakers’ miscues. During a four-minute run late in the first quarter, the Lakers scored just one field goal – a tough stepback corner three by James – as Phoenix amassed a 21-point lead while making the scoreboard resemble that of a football game.
All told, the Suns outscored the Lakers 48-22 in the first quarter alone, and that margin loomed over them for the rest of the game. The ball-sharing was another tenet of Phoenix’s attack: Both Booker and Cameron Payne had double-digit assists, and the team had 20 fast break points after 12 minutes, which Lakers coach Frank Vogel said: “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that.”
By midway through the fourth quarter, both starting lineups had long been benched, and Suns fans passed the time by doing the Wave around the arena. Carmelo Anthony scored 18 points, while Monk and Russell Westbrook had 13 points each. The Suns feasted on the Lakers’ 19 turnovers for 26 points.
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Vogel was ill-tempered and terse in his postgame press conference: “Nothing we did tonight was good enough.”
It was the first time the two teams had met since December, and the Lakers hadn’t visited Footprint Center since last June, when they were in the middle of losing a six-game playoff series. The Lakers needed a play-in win a year ago to reach the postseason; if the season ended today, they’d need to win the 9-10 seed game, then beat the loser of the 7-8 seed game just to tangle again with the Suns – an opponent who would give them absolutely no quarter.
The Lakers’ confidence has slipped given how they’ve played recently, losing 10 of their last 13 games. They have just 15 games left – and it doesn’t bode well that 10 of those are on the road.
James (6 assists) played long enough to reach a milestone of 10,000 career assists, becoming the only player in NBA history to tally five-digit assists, rebounds and more than 30,000 points. James carried a signed game ball to his postgame press conference commemorating the feat. But the 37-year-old’s left knee soreness continues to be a question: It’s unclear if he’ll be available Monday night against the Toronto Raptors for the second half of a back-to-back.