Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers walks the bench during the second half of the NBA game against the Phoenix Sons at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on April 05, 2022. Sun defeated the Lakers 121-110. Christian Petersen / Getty Images / AFP
Devin Booker scored 32 points and six three-pointers in three quarters on Tuesday night to help Phoenix win 121-110 on the Los Angeles tour, a win that knocked the Lakers out of the play-in birth race as well as providing a sigh of relief. A franchise-record with 63rd win.
Los Angeles (31-46) lost in the seventh game in a row and LeBron James returned to the field with an ankle injury for the fifth time in seven games. After the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets on the night, the disaster put an end to the Lakers’ final hopes.
Deandre Ayton added 22 points and 13 rebounds and Chris Paul recorded 12 assists as the NBA-best Suns (63-16) snapped a two-game slide. Phoenix has surpassed the team’s 62 wins combined in 1992-93 and 2004-05.
Devin Booker ends the alley and oops in # Phantomcam
19 points for booking on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/vaZCDZ9TVi
– NBA (BANBA) April 6, 2022
Russell Westbrook registered 28 points and Anthony Davis 21 points and 13 rebounds for Los Angeles, which went down 11-28 on the road. Phoenix is an NBA-best 32-8 home.
Cameron Johnson had 12 points and Mikal Bridges added 10 for Phoenix, who shot 49 percent from the field and 14 of 39 from the 3-point range. Cameron Payne has 11 assists for the Sons, who have gone 4-0 up against the Lakers this season.
Austin Reeves added 18 points and Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard added 10 points for Los Angeles, who shot 45.3 percent and were 9 out of 29 from behind the arc.
The Suns were leading 63-58 at halftime before dominating the first 9:23 of the third quarter.
Crowder and Booker eliminated the 3-pointer during the 12-0 blast to give the Phoenix an 84-65 lead. The facility reaches 20 when Booker connects to another tray to make it 87-67 with 5:30 left.
Booker extended his lead to 90-68 with his third 3-pointer remaining at 4:46 with 89 seconds left.
Eaton finished the quarter-opening 33-12 with a turnaround jumper to increase the gap to 96-70 at 2:37.
Booker completed a 16-point third quarter with 9.1 seconds left with a lay-up while Phoenix took a 98-80 lead in the final quarter.
Sons led the 25-man lead through the final stanza before scoring 12 in a row to cut the Los Angeles gap.
Booker scored 16 points in the first half as Sans took a five-point lead at the break. Westbrook were 17 for the Lakers.
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