The Los Angeles Lakers will not participate in this season’s postseason. Head coach Frank Vogel’s team lost 110-121 to Phoenix, while the San Antonio Spurs surprisingly won against the Denver Nuggets at the same time.
Phoenix Suns (63-16) – Los Angeles Lakers (31-48) 121: 110 (BOXSCORE)
With three games left, the Lakers are 3 games behind the Spurs, but are unable to recover due to the tiebreak. Although both teams have won two games each in a head-to-head duel, the next criterion, wins against Western Conference teams, speaks clearly for the Texans (24:16).
Without LeBron James (ankle), the Lakers have kept up well with the best team in the league for at least a time (58:63) because Russell Westbrook (28, 10/20 FG, 5 rebounds, 6 TO) and Anthony Davis ( 21, 10/18 FG, 13 rebounds) did their best to counter the defeat, but in the end they also fell with the team.
After the break it was finally over. Phoenix got serious and had a great time, with Devin Booker in the lead. The shooting guard scored 16 of his 32 points (12/22 FG, 6/9 three) in that period, including 11 points in just two minutes of three in a row. The Lakers, on the other hand, lost five balls, some of them expensive, from which Phoenix scored 9 points.
The lead quickly grew from 5 to 24 points, the Suns won the third quarter 35-22 and it was clear from the start that the Lakers’ next three games would be meaningless. The Suns, on the other hand, still worked some magic, especially Deandre Ayton (22, 10/14, 13 rebounds) was served multiple times with lobs.
Two years after the title: the Lakers miss the playoffs
Phoenix set a new franchise record with his 63rd win of the season, beating the scores of 1993 and 2005. Although Chris Paul scored just 6 points, he also played 12 assists. Instead, Phoenix again impressed with homogeneity, even before the junk time all the players (10) used up to then had scored at least two field goals. Cam Payne also played 11 assists.
The Lakers slashed the goal to -13 with three minutes left, but the Suns quickly stifled a possible comeback as Cameron Johnson scored from center with time running out.
The Lakers miss the playoffs for the first time since 2019, less than two years ago LeBron James and his teammates had won the championship in the Orlando bubble. Last year was the end of the first round when the Suns beat the defending champion 4-2.
