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    • What we learned about Suns in comeback over Lakers
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    What we learned about Suns in comeback over Lakers

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    The Phoenix Suns couldn’t overcome their 18-point deficit Monday night at Footprint Center.

    They were fully capable of coming back, just as the Los Angeles Lakers did when they rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat the Suns last week at Crypto.com Arena.

    Phoenix returned the favor by responding to an early 26-8 hole in their 109-105 win in front of a sellout crowd of 17,071, handing the Lakers their first loss. Devin Booker scored 33 points, while Kevin Durant scored 30 to lead the Suns (3-1), winners of their last two games.

    Bradley Beal scored 15 points in his return after missing Saturday’s home opener against Dallas with a sore right elbow, while Royce O’Neale added 12 points off the bench as he hit a huge jumper to give Phoenix a 107-104 lead by 1 :25. left.

    Anthony Davis followed up his 35 in Friday’s win over Phoenix on Monday with 29 points, while adding 16 points in the first quarter to pace the Lakers (3-1).

    Austin Reaves delivered 23 points, shooting 5-of-8 from 3, while Rui Hachimura added 20 points.

    LeBron James scored just 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting while missing the second of two free throws with the Suns up by two, 107-105, with 6.4 seconds left.

    Beal closed the game with two free throws with 0.8 seconds left.

    Here are three takeaways as the Suns travel back to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Thursday at the new $2 billion Intuit Dome, where they won their season opener in overtime.

    Small lineup delivers

    Here’s the deal.

    The Suns have no answers for Davis. He’s too big, too strong and too skilled for Phoenix’s frontcourt or anyone else on the team.

    The Suns shouldn’t feel too bad. At his best, Davis is a top-5 NBA player.

    So instead of letting Jusuf Nurkic and Mason Plumlee try to stop or contain him, Suns coach Mike Budenholzer went small with Durant going at the five with combinations of Tyus Jones, Ryan Dunn, Beal, O’Neale and Booker.

    Three with 37.3 seconds left, the Suns went with Dunn, Beal, O’Neale, Durant and Booker.

    Nurkic struggled in the first game in Los Angeles with a 4-point effort, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 18 minutes. He was worse Monday: two points on 1-of-6 shooting in 15 minutes.

    The 7-footer didn’t see another second of action after being fouled out with 6:50 left in the third until the final 6.4 seconds to rebound on James’ two free throws.

    Just a bad match for Nurkic, but he has to be better. Plumlee also has issues guarding Davis, but he defended him better and played his role in the offense with screening and offensive rebounding.

    His attacking board led to O’Neale’s huge jumper to put Phoenix ahead late in the fourth.

    The Suns played small ball to beat teams last season under Frank Vogel. Budenholzer certainly has an offense in mind when spreading the floor, but he sees the defensive side of it to fight.

    He has challenged them to man up. The Suns did it when it mattered, with a small lineup.

    Budenholzer changes lineups

    While he’s still trying to figure out the rotations and better lineups, Budenholzer has no problem signing someone if he’s not playing well.

    He took out Jusuf Nurkic, who not only struggled to guard Davis but also missed 3 seconds and got out of control on offense, for Plumlee.

    He then brought in Dunn when he saw that the Suns weren’t big enough to match the Lakers. He provided an immediate spark to the defense, forcing James into a shot clock violation.

    Oh yeah, Dunn is looking more and more like that specimen of the 2024 draft. It’s early, but he’s been impressive.

    It didn’t stop there: Budenholzer had a lineup late in the first half that included O’Neale, Dunn and Booker, along with Durant and Plumlee. O’Neale offers defense, size and three-point shooting.

    The Suns got back into the game with their defense, thanks in part to Budenholzer going with guys who will bring that to the game.

    Defending James in year 22

    There’s an eternity of miles on James’ legs.

    Oh, he can still rise above the rim with his patented one-handed hammers, but he doesn’t get off consistently in the half court.

    Those who watched him in Phase 1 in Cleveland know that James was so fast and explosive that it was a nightmare to stop when he was going downhill.

    Now in year 22, James uses his strength and physicality to get to the finish at the basket, but if a player can stay attached to his body, he has a harder time scoring on drives.

    The Lakers run their offense through Davis to start. Reaves continues to improve as a player, but James is clearly an important part of the offense.

    The Suns made it difficult for him on Monday with high hands, keeping contact with him and allowing him to see a crowd in the paint.

    Even the greatest of all time will have a hard time with that from time to time.

    Do you have an opinion on the current state of the suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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