LOS ANGELES — On Wednesday night, the Lakers heard no sweeter sound than a whistle.
The sharp, staccato bursts from the officials were a soundtrack to another needed win.
In the next few weeks, the Lakers (36-37) might just be built best to play ugly: Against the Phoenix Suns (38-34), they pushed it to an entirely new level with a season-high 46 free-throw attempts in a 122-111 victory, their second straight.
Anthony Davis paced the evening with a team-best 27 points, going 10 for 18 from the field including a few tough floaters against a Suns team with an undermanned frontcourt. But the biggest mark was his 7-for-10 contribution to the Lakers’ 36-for-46 performance from the foul line, which punished the Suns early, to the point that they were bubbling over on the sideline in frustration.
Overall, the Lakers attempted 26 more free throws than the visitors and made 21 more of them. There’s a well-known rivalry between Suns point guard Chris Paul and chief official Scott Foster that was stoked anew after the game – Paul has complained before that Foster shows bias against his teams – but the Lakers weren’t complaining.
“I mean, 46 free throws is a lot,” said Austin Reaves, who finished with 25 points and a career-high 13 free-throw attempts. “But if you get downhill a lot, and you have guys like A.D. and (D’Angelo Russell) that are really crafty, there’s gonna be fouls.”
With the win, the Lakers moved back into play-in position in 10th place after the Utah Jazz lost to Portland, another standings shuffle in a tight race that has half the teams in the Western Conference biting their fingernails – including, perhaps, Phoenix, which will have to endure injuries for the final few weeks of the season. With the win, the Lakers broke a nine-game losing streak against the Suns that dated to their 2021 first-round playoff series.
Fresh off of 46 points in his previous game, All-Star Devin Booker scorched the Lakers in the second half with 25 of his 33 points, finding a rhythm in his jumper after primary defender Jarred Vanderbilt struck foul trouble. The Suns needed Booker to be hot, with Paul facing foul issues of his own, and the team down Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton to injury (neither traveled to Los Angeles).
The Lakers – who improved to 7-5 during LeBron James’ latest injury absence – were able to counter with a high-scoring night from their own backcourt, including Reaves who cracked the starting lineup after a career night against Orlando. For a guard with a penchant to get to the line, it was the perfect night to stand out: Reaves enjoyed his third straight game with double-digit free-throw attempts, making 12 of 13. He also made his mark making plays, drawing up a career-best 11 assists.
Coach Darvin Ham felt validated in his decision to start Reaves for Malik Beasley, noting that he scored 10 points in an otherwise sluggish offensive first quarter for the team.
“He’s in a great space right now, feeling his game, just locked into what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said. “And I just felt like it made all sense in the world.”
D’Angelo Russell had one of his better nights as a shooter, going 9 for 13 from the floor, including three 3-pointers. The guard had 18 of his points in the second half, bringing a shot of energy into an often plodding game. He punctuated his biggest plays by gesturing for the crowd to make more noise.
The whistles were a factor early: By halftime, the Lakers had 27 attempts from the line, and it helped them gain ground after a largely back-and-forth start.
The third quarter was starting to look like the one when everything clicked for the Lakers, especially Davis. The big man finally got a head of steam going against Phoenix’s short-handed frontcourt after getting looks at the free-throw line. In the span of a few minutes, he spun baseline against an overmatched Joc Landale for a dunk, then grabbed his own miss for a slam on the head of T.J. Warren. Back-to-back jumpers toward the end of the third were an indicator of his rhythm: Davis wound up scoring 14 points in the quarter.
Ham joked that Davis’ “dumbass coach” finally called some plays for his star big man. But Davis suggested he needed to flip a switch, too.
“He made an effort to call all my plays basically the whole third quarter, and do different looks to give me the ball when they couldn’t double,” Davis said. “And then it was me just being like, ‘OK, now go score.’”
But the Lakers have had a nasty habit of finishing quarters poorly, a trend that continued in the third on a six-point swing. After Cam Payne knocked down a 3-pointer, Wenyen Gabriel put the ball down on the court to waste clock – without realizing Landry Shamet was positioned for a snatch. The Suns guard finished with an and-one layup, and the Lakers were just a slightly off-target Booker 3-point attempt away from going into the fourth quarter in a tie.
The Lakers have another key game on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team they can earn a tiebreaker against, and one they might need down the stretch. Finishing the job against the Suns, no matter how ugly it got, built some confidence for a team still playing on knife’s edge.
“They’re the Phoenix Suns. They are who they are for a reason. We just had to have that endurance,” Ham said. “We have that saying – be the most competitive, together team for 48 minutes. And I think the people saw that tonight.”
Three Lakers scored 25+ in their win tonight ????
AD:
27 PTS, 9 REB, 5 ASTDLo:
26 PTS, 6 AST, 3 3PMAustin Reaves:
25 PTS, 4 REB, 11 AST (career-high) pic.twitter.com/PVR1jLU3r9— NBA (@NBA) March 23, 2023
.@AntDavis23 (27 PTS, 9 REB) spoke post-game about what D’Angelo Russell brings to the team, tonight’s win and the starting lineup. pic.twitter.com/kbtdKGQ9o3
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 23, 2023
.@Dloading on the atmosphere at https://t.co/fOfPTbdC4t Arena and playing alongside Austin in the starting lineup. pic.twitter.com/z6m2Ub58iX
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 23, 2023
“You like that trick up my sleeve.” ????
Darvin Ham on tonight’s starting lineup, Austin Reaves performance and Jarred Vanderbilt’s defense on Booker. pic.twitter.com/p3eEF0zo36— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 23, 2023
“I’m just trying to play the right way. Obviously without Bron try to be a little bit more aggressive and try to fill the void.” Austin reaves with @MikeTrudell following tonight’s win. pic.twitter.com/swMaUMPxNk
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 23, 2023
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