The Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena in the first battle between Kevin Durant and LeBron James since December 2018. Despite Devin Booker and Bradley Beal not playing, the road team was able to defeat the hosts, including Anthony Davis, by 23 points.
Durant, 35, only played in the first half, but still led all players in scoring with 21 points in 17 minutes. Even without his scoring, however, Phoenix would have still managed to obtain the victory.
The remaining 102 points were spread across 13 Suns players. Saben Lee scored 17 points in 16 minutes off the bench. Nasir Little and Yuta Watanabe added a respective 11 and 12 points with the backup squad.
Besides Durant, Eric Gordon was the only other Suns starter with double-digit in scoring, adding 10 points.
Udoka Azubuike, who played five minutes, was the only Suns player of 15 total that did not score on the Lakers.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has managed to maintain the team’s score intact while adding a few more key pieces.
During the preseason finale, though, Lakers looked top-heavy, with James (19), Davis (15) and Austin Reaves (14) combining for 48 points, nearly half of the team’s offensive output.
