Ten years after its last appearance in the play-offs, Phoenix found this Sunday the smell of choppy matches. The Suns hosted the Los Angeles Lakers, recalling the last confrontation of the two teams in the 2010 conference final, where the Californians won.
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The Booker-Ayton duo up to the task
In a game where Chris Paul went to the locker room twice with a possible shoulder injury, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton took matters into their own hands. The back and center of the Suns played their first game in the play-offs and responded perfectly to the California challenge. Deandre Ayton first spoke about his shooting accuracy with 21 points (10/11) and was essential in the Lakers’ racket with 8 offensive rebounds (16 in total). Defensively, the pivot of Phoenix also managed to contain Anthony Davis (13 points).
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His teammate Devin Booker has been invaluable to him in the Suns’ away game. For his first at this level of intensity, the full-back finished his team’s leading scoring game with 34 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. The number 1 of the Suns mainly caused smart mistakes to go to the free throw line (5/6).
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The Lakers a step down from start to finish
If Los Angeles put the necessary intensity at the start of the match, Frank Vogel’s men were then clumsy throughout the first half. LeBron James was underused by his coach (only 17 minutes) but he still finished the second quarter with 10 points, the best California total. Montrezl Harrell was certainly combative and valuable in the racket (10 points) but the second knives lacked success.
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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope only landed one basket, Dennis Schröder only took two shots and Wesley Matthews and Kyle Kuzma were silent on the scoring. Defensively, the reigning champions have left too many spaces and shots open to the Suns (51% success at halftime against 41% for the Lakers). Inside, Deandre Ayton scored 21 points on 10/11 shooting and Phoenix won the rebound battle in the first act (54v48).
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Anthony Davis walks through
A game to forget for the strong winger of the Lakers. Clumsy in shooting with only 13 points scored (5/16), Anthony Davis was unable to take advantage of the lack of experience and size of the indoor sector. With only 3 rebounds and an assist, “AD” played 29 minutes, the biggest total for his team. The Californians missed his 22 points average in the regular season to win Game 1 of the series.
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