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

    Idris Bevan Posted on

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

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

    Phoenix got revenge with an early 26-8 hole and a 109-105 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 17,071, handing the Lakers their first loss. Devin Booker scored a game-high 33 points, while Kevin Durant scored 30 to lead the Suns, who have won their last two games, 3-1.

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

    Anthony Davis extended his 35 points in Friday’s win over Phoenix with 29 points Monday while scoring 16 points in the first quarter to top the Lakers (3-1).

    Austin Reaves delivered 23 points, going 5 of 8 from 3, while Rui Hachimura scored 20.

    LeBron James managed just 11 points on 3 of 14 shooting as he missed the second of two free throws while the Suns held a two-point lead, 107-105, with 6.4 seconds left.

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

    Here are three takeaways as the Suns return to Los Angeles to face 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.

    Things shouldn’t be too bad for the Suns. At his best, Davis is a top-five NBA player.

    So instead of trying to stop or contain him with Jusuf Nurkic and Mason Plumlee, Suns coach Mike Budenholzer downsized Durant with the five remaining players using combinations of Tyus Jones, Ryan Dunn, Beal, O’Neale and Booker.

    With 37.3 seconds left, the Suns were up by three points with Dunn, Beal, O’Neale, Durant and Booker.

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

    The 7-foot-2 player didn’t see another second of action after being knocked out with 6:50 left in the third period until James’ two free throws in the final 6.4 seconds.

    It was just a bad game for Nurkic, but he needs to get better. Plumlee has also struggled guarding Davis, but he has defended him better and played his role in the offense with screening and offensive rebounds.

    His offensive board led to O’Neale giving Phoenix the lead with a huge jumper late in the fourth.

    The Suns played small ball under Frank Vogel last season and outscored teams. Budenholzer certainly has the offense in mind when it comes to spacing the field, but he also has the defense in mind to combat.

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

    Budenholzer changes the lineup

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

    He subbed Jusuf Nurkic for Plumlee, who not only had trouble guarding Davis, but also missed threes and was out of action on offense.

    Then he brought in Dunn when he saw the Suns didn’t have the size to keep up with the Lakers. He immediately provided a spark on defense and forced James into a shot clock violation.

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

    As if that weren’t enough, towards the end of the first half Budenholzer had a lineup with O’Neale, Dunn and Booker as well as Durant and Plumlee. O’Neale offers defense, size and 3-point shooting.

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

    Defending James in his 22nd year

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

    Oh, he can still reach beyond the rim with his patented one-handed hammers, but he can’t consistently finish in the halfcourt.

    Those who saw him in Phase 1 in Cleveland know that James was so fast and explosive that stopping him downhill was a nightmare.

    Now a 22nd-grader, James uses his strength and physicality to finish at the basket, but when a player can hold on to his body, he has a harder time scoring on drives.

    The Lakers initially run their offense through Davis. 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 showing him a crowd in the paint.

    Even the greatest of all time, on the other hand, will have difficulties from time to time.

    Do you have any opinions 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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    Idris Bevan
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