It took two seasons and nearly 10 games, but the Lakers finally dropped their first NBA Cup game on Tuesday after being dominated by the Suns, 127-100.

In a story that mirrored their performance against the Nuggets, the Lakers followed a solid first half with a terrible third quarter. Phoenix outscored the purple and gold 36-18 in the third period to take control of the match.

Anthony Davis dominated with 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, a steal and four blocks. Austin Reaves pitched in 15 points on 6-12 shooting.

LeBron James scored 18 points with 10 assists and eight bounces back. Rui Hachimura had seven points. D’Angelo Russell finished with 16 points off the bench.

Both teams got off to a fiery start, pun intended, trading baskets back and forth. AD and LeBron carried the offensive load for the Lakers. AD was perfect from the field early, converting all of his mid-range shots and a dunk. LeBron not only made shots, but handed out dimes, including a nice pass to Rui for a dunk.

Bradley Beal, back from injury, hit a pair of wide-open three-pointers for the Suns. Phoenix led by two with two minutes left in the quarter. Devin Booker also started to heat up with two straight mid-range shots.

Minus AD, neither team put in too much effort defensively. At the end of the first, the Suns led 31-25.

The Lakers pulled within three minutes to start the second quarter. Both teams still didn’t play much defense. The Suns were a step above LA offensively and kept them ahead. Despite starting the quarter on offense, the Lakers managed to stay within single digits.

Los Angeles struggled mightily to guard the perimeter, which led to the Suns firing a lot of wide-open shots. Kevin Durant was an automatic and already connected on two three-pointers. The Suns were eight hours higher.

Austin put together his own 8-0 run and the game was tied. The Lakers were up by one and-1 against AD.

The half ended with two great plays, one with Suns rookie Ryan Dunn tipping in a shot and Austin knocking down a middy for LA. Phoenix led by two at halftime.

Austin picked up where he left off in the second quarter by drilling a three-pointer to start the second half. After a dismal first half, Jusuf Nurkić scored 10 points for the Suns in the third quarter and as a result the Lakers trailed by six points.

The energy for Los Angeles had dropped. Their shots weren’t falling and their defense was awful. The Suns went up by 11, requiring a timeout. A three from KD only added to their momentum.

Phoenix was on a 19-4 run, LA was down 17 and staring their first NBA Cup loss in the face. A three from Dalton Knecht stopped the bleeding very briefly. There was nothing positive to say about the end of the third for the Lakers as the Suns led by twenty.

A three from Beal opened the final frame. The Lakers pulled away from the three-point line, but missed in quick succession. The energy and effort were non-existent, ultimately leading to JJ Redick pulling the starters ahead for a back-to-back on Wednesday.

Key Takeaways:

This team can’t just rely on AD and LeBron to make them win. It’s a team effort. Wake up.

This is the second straight season that the Lakers have needed Jarred Vanderbilt’s defense while he is out with an injury. Who will rise? Someone needs to strengthen their defenses. Again, it’s a team effort.

We’ve seen the Lakers do this far too many times: they have bad turnovers and then start jacking up ridiculous three-pointers while the opponent cooks them. Where is the logic in that?

The Lakers’ next game is Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs at 5:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.