Phoenix Suns struggle in 2nd half without their star, fall 112-93 to Los Angeles Lakers

Despite 24 points from T.J. Warren and a double-double from Josh Jackson, the Phoenix Suns couldn’t account for the injured Devin Booker as the Los Angeles Lakers took the season series over the Suns for the first time since 2010-11 with a 112-93 win.

The game turned on a 5:44 stretch to close the 3rd quarter. After Warren sank two free throws to give Phoenix a 72-70 lead, the Lakers went on an 18-7 run to close the quarter with an 88-79 advantage. The Suns would allow a 15-3 run to close the 4th quarter as well, but Phoenix had made little headway into LA’s 3rd quarter advantage by that point.

With their star missing the game due to a hip pointer, Phoenix mustered only 93 points while shooting 38.3 percent from the field and making just 8 of 29 3-pointers. They did themselves no favors from the charity stripe, either, hitting just 13 of 23. By contrast, the Suns allowed the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting team to make 11 of its 26 attempts (42.3 percent). The Lakers outrebounded Phoenix 37-20 in the 2nd half (8-4 on offense).

Aside from Warren’s 24 points, Jackson had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix. Tyson Chandler had a game-high 13 rebounds, and Marquese Chriss scored 10 points off the bench in his return from his team-enforced cooling off period.

Los Angeles was led by Brandon Ingram’s 26 points and Julius Randle’s 21 points and eight boards. Also playing well was Josh Hart, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting, and Kyle Kuzma, who chipped in 16 points as well. Brook Lopez was 4 of 6 from the field — all threes.