The Phoenix Suns’ 123-116 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers marked the second time in two tries that they failed to put the past behind them.

Like their season opener, this was the hope of the new Suns as they tried to overcome the resurgence of their worst habits last season. Phoenix scored 38 points in the first quarter, adding 15 assists on 16 baskets, including eight three-pointers. Los Angeles was extremely committed to the initial defensive effort and incredibly uninterested in the follow-up effort that needed to happen, a slump that the Suns pounced on with excellent paint touches and ball movement.

Phoenix’s first-half lead grew to as many as 22 points before, yes, the turnover returned. The Suns had thirteen giveaways in the first half, kindly rolling out the red carpet in the Lakers’ path in the game and helping them across the street first for good measure. LA had 19 points of that, trailing by just nine at halftime. The sloppy passing, especially from Jusuf Nurkic, was lazy considering how easy it was to break through the Lakers’ defense for better passing opportunities.

Unsurprisingly, the Lakers came out of halftime with much more energy, and a 16-6 run in less than four minutes early in the third quarter put them ahead. Just like on Wednesday, when the poor performances of the stars allowed a match that should have been stopped early to remain live, the turnovers created the same effect and put this match into ‘Well, anything can happen now’ territory for a match that is over should have been. . For all the fourth quarter concerns and the Suns closing out games, they are 0-for-2 before that would even have been necessary.

Phoenix trailed by two entering the final frame and the mistakes continued to mount for Nurkic. Mason Plumlee committed four errors at the time and rookie Oso Ighodaro is too small to play the Lakers’ frontcourt as a 5, so the Suns went small with Durant and Dunn as the frontcourt. Phoenix’s offense was Durant trading and looking for the right fit, the exact pace that Phoenix had to avoid as much as possible. Durant has been fantastic so far, but the Suns won mainly because of their half-court pace.

That and some defensive lapses allowed the Lakers to extend their lead to 10. Ighodaro was brought in as the 5 shortly thereafter with Anthony Davis on the bench. Plumlee checked in when Davis was over at 7:25 and Phoenix was down by nine.

Seven points from Tyus Jones briefly revived the Suns’ offense, but Phoenix’s defense began to regress, momentarily losing focus or not extending for that extra effort. The Lakers jumped all over that to go up a ten at 6:07. Phoenix at its best won’t be a winner if it relaxes defensively like that in key stretches, and it’s nowhere near even close to being that good offensively to fall into that trap. Phoenix went back to Durant at the 5, without Nurkic the rest of the way.

The Suns scored within six with less than two minutes left before an open Rui Hachimura drained a 3 from anyone collapsing on a post-touch for LeBron James.

Devin Booker looked like himself with 10 points in the first quarter before quickly losing his rhythm and ultimately finishing 9 of 21 from the field for 23 points. On a similar note, Bradley Beal was great in the first half before the ball barely found him in the second half. He dished out a team-high nine assists with 15 points (6 of 14), while Durant scored a team-high 30 points. These are the departments where the implementation of point guards should help, and the sooner the continuity process evolves, the better.

This didn’t feel like an ultra-impactful Anthony Davis night, but he hit 17 free throws to match the Suns and finished with 35 points, eight rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocks. Austin Reaves’ shooting was stellar with 26 points, eight assists and three steals.

Phoenix had 35 assists in the game and shot 17-of-37 (45.9%) from 3, well matched by LA’s comparable efficiency at 14-for-27 (51.9%). The Lakers were +14 at the foul line.

Grayson Allen was late for this game due to personal reasons. Allen shared on social media this offseason that he and his wife Morgan are expecting their first child. His absence resulted in more minutes for Royce O’Neale and Dunn, both of whom played excellently.

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