The Phoenix Suns (hereafter referred to as the Phoenix) defeated the Los Angeles Lakers (hereinafter referred to as the Lakers), who had taken off all the cars thanks to Chris Paul’s (37) performance.
Phoenix defeated the Lakers in the regular league game of the 2022-23 NBA season held at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, USA on the morning of the 20th (Korean time). With this, Phoenix is ranked 3rd in the West with 19-12.
In the game, Chris Paul scored 28 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists, Deandre Ayton scored 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Mikal Bridges scored 20 points and 2 assists. Dennis Schroeder played a big role with 30 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists for the Lakers, but the light faded with a loss to the team.
Phoenix started dominating the Lakers from the first quarter. As Paul started to score in the third minute of the quarter, Phoenix made a runaway score. 안전놀이터 Paul alone scored 14 points as Booker filled the missing spot, and Ayton assisted with 9 points. Phoenix finished the first quarter with a 38-24, 14-point lead.
Both teams continued their poor scoring performance by both bench players at the beginning of the second quarter. It was Paul who broke this trend. Paul did not score directly in the second quarter, but dominated the game by assisting his teammates for 2 minutes and 30 seconds before the end of the quarter. The Lakers also struggled with Schroeder and Ronnie Walker IV, but could not stop Phoenix’s firepower. Phoenix ended the first half with a 68-44, 24-point lead.
The Lakers pulled Phoenix’s timeout early in the third quarter as Walker, Thomas Bryant and Schroeder started scoring. Here, Phoenix responded with Paul input. During the 4th minute with Paul, Ayton and Bridges came to life and put in a shot to widen the score again. In addition, among the bench players, Ismail Wainwright and Landry Shamet played well, finishing the third quarter with a 99-77, 22-point lead.
The Lakers looked for a last chance by putting in their main players at the beginning of the 4th quarter, but every time they did, Paul gradually lost momentum with a score that put the cold water on the chase. The Lakers raised the white flag seven minutes before the end of the game, taking out all of their starting pitchers. Phoenix continued to score 28 points as Paul managed three consecutive offenses before bringing in the bench players five minutes before the end of the game. Afterwards, Phoenix won 130-104, 26 points.