The Suns had beaten the Lakers in two of their three meetings this season, often being the more physical and aggressive team, but a lot of their key players were out in this game. That didn’t matter, however, as the Suns continued to have their way with the Lakers, beating them 113-110 in the final seconds.

Coming off a rough shooting night, Luka Doncic got off to a nice start in this one by making his first two shots. Outside of that though, the Lakers were struggling offensively early with the Suns jumping out to a 17-9 lead.

L.A. had a quick response with a 12-0 run to take their first lead. Doncic had five more points during that span while LeBron James also got going offensively.

Luke Kennard came in and made an immediate impact, including finishing a layup after a slick behind-the-back pass from James, to give the Lakers a 27-22 lead at the end of the first.

Phoenix got hot from deep to begin the second quarter, regaining the lead and forcing a Lakers timeout. Things started to spiral for the Lakers as they had some silly turnovers, leading to back-to-back triples by the Suns to go up by 10.

Again though, the Lakers responded with a run of their own. Jake LaRavia got it started with a 3-pointer and then Doncic and Reaves each hit one as well. The Suns beat the halftime buzzer to end the run, tying the game at 49.

The Lakers picked up where they left off to begin the third quarter, scoring 11 straight points with Doncic and James leading the charge. Doncic found Deandre Ayton for an alley-oop, giving the big man his first bucket of the night and forcing a Suns timeout with L.A.’s lead reaching double digits.

Similar to what happened in the first half, the Lakers let go of the rope from there. They had some more silly turnovers and Grayson Allen made them pay with back-to-back 3s. Allen then hit another one out of a Lakers timeout and the game wound up being tied at 80 at the end of the third.

Ayton committed a costly Flagrant 1 foul on a reckless closeout, allowing the Suns to jump back in front after a six-point possession that started an 11-0 run.

Marcus Smart tried to bring the Lakers back with a triple and three-point play, but there was still a lot more work to be done. Doncic picked it up from three with a pair of 3s of his own, and all of a sudden it was a two-point game.

The Lakers needed to get a stop and got lucky with Allen missing an open triple. Reaves then responded with a 3 and the game was tied with 22 seconds to go.

Phoenix had the ball with the shot clock off, running it all the way down to get the final shot and Royce O’Neale drilled a triple for the win.

What’s next for the Lakers…

The Lakers will wrap up their quick two-game road trip on Saturday evening against the Golden State Warriors before returning home and hosting the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.

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Hayes returning is good news for the Lakers as their reserve unit has been one of their biggest issues this season, although Hachimura being out won’t help that.

Hayes missed the Lakers’ contest on Tuesday night against the Orlando Magic with that ankle issue and they will greatly benefit from the energy he brings off the bench. Hayes’ ability to attack the rim has provided great dividends and his chemistry with the Lakers’ playmakers, primarily Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, is obvious.

Hachimura has been the team’s most consistent 3-point shooter all season long and provides much-needed floor spacing, so they will need to find a way to make up for that.

Outside of Hachimura, JJ Redick has his complete roster available as the Lakers hit the road for the first time in nine games. After a disappointing 4-4 homestand, the Lakers have an opportunity to get things right against a Suns team that is shorthanded without All-Star guard Devin Booker and feisty wing Dillon Brooks, who has been an enemy of the Lakers for years now. Former Lakers guard Jordan Goodwin is also among the Phoenix players ruled out.

In addition to looking to turn things around after back-to-back losses, the Suns are also right behind the Lakers in the Western Conference standings and own a 2-1 record against L.A. this season. As such, a victory for these Lakers is needed not only to maintain some distance between themselves and a Play-In spot, but also to ensure the Suns don’t get the tiebreaker which could become very important at the end of the season.

This is a crucial stretch for the Lakers as they try to come together and reach their potential ahead of the postseason, and having their full roster available will allow for them to really build chemistry and hopefully, string some wins together.

Lakers center Deandre Ayton makes it known he doesn’t want to be in Clint Capela role

Another key to the Lakers success this season is big man Deandre Ayton, who recently made it clear that he does not like the idea of being fit into a rim-running role similar to that of Clint Capela.

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Bryant was known for being a ruthless competitor on the court, stopping at nothing to gain any sort of advantage over opponents. Kobe also seemed immune to pain as he played through numerous injuries, sacrificing his body in the hopes of winning basketball games.

His tragic death over six years ago struck the world at its core as he seemed destined for great things even after his playing days ended. Bryant influenced generations of basketball players including Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker, who idolized the Lakers legend.

The 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend just wrapped and brands like Nike paid homage to Bryant given that the festivities were held in Los Angeles. Booker also reflected on his relationship with Bryant and what he means to the game of basketball.

“We all miss Kobe, he’s had a lasting impact on this league, and on all of our lives in a way that can’t be described. Everybody in this building has felt his presence and understands the magnitude of what he’s done for this game,” Booker said.

Bryant’s willingness to do whatever it took to win is something that is hard to find in today’s game, though players like Booker do a great job paying homage to the Black Mamba. For example, Booker accepted a lesser role on the 2024 Olympics team acting as one of the team’s primary perimeter defenders. It echoed Bryant’s stint with USA Basketball where he happily accepted the challenge of guarding an opposing team’s best perimeter player.

It’s truly sad that Kobe is gone as he would have been a wealth of knowledge for the generation of basketball players looking to make their mark. Shades of Bryant’s play style and personality come out in players like Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama, two of the league’s brightest stars who value competing at the highest levels.

The game of basketball continues to grow and evolve, and Bryant is a large reason why it’s in the position it is today.

Anthony Edwards hopes to follow in Kobe Bryant’s footsteps

The new All-Star Game format was a resounding success as the players competed in each game. Anthony Edwards came away with the All-Star Game MVP and said he wanted to follow in Kobe Bryant’s footsteps by winning more in the future.

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On Feb. 7, 2001, Bryant had to take matters into his own hands against a competitive Western Conference foe. The Phoenix Suns were led by younger stars in Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion.

The Suns entered the contest with a 26-19 record, ready to demonstrate the qualities that had them as an up-and-coming contender. Another key game note in favor of the Suns was the absence of O’Neal, who had last played in late January.

However, that just meant that Bryant had more opportunities to capitalize upon. The game got off to a slow start, with both teams playing excellent defense and suffering from subpar offense.

The Lakers put together a 21-14 lead in the opening quarter, with starters Bryant, Ron Harper, Rick Fox, Horace Grant and Greg Foster. Phoenix rebounded nicely to close out the first half, outscoring the Lakers by four points and trailing by just three at the half.

The back-and-forth matchup continued into the second half, with the Lakers showing they can take a punch and quickly throw one right back. They extended their lead to 11 points, taking a 70-59 lead into the final quarter.

Bryant made his presence felt coming out of the break, scoring 12 of his 32 points. The Suns were able to muster one last comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, setting the stage for a nail-biter.

Trailing by just three points, they beautifully executed a play that resulted in a Tom Gugliotta 3-pointer. The crowd of almost 19,000 fans were in shock, with the Lakers surrendering their once comfortable lead.

However, they left a little too much time on the clock for No. 8 to do his thing. The Lakers inbounded it to Bryant, who worked his way towards nailing a 17-foot jump shot with less than three seconds remaining. The Suns were unable to counter, and the Lakers had a 85-83 victory.

Bryant was once again able to work his magic over the Pacific Division rivals, capping off an impressive night. He led the team in points (32), rebounds (eight), assists (nine) and steals (four).

Marion put together an 18-point, 14-rebound double-double on 6-for-12 shooting, while Kidd finished with 14 points, six rebounds and nine assists.

Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd developed strong relationship

Kidd and Bryant would create quite the relationship during their respective NBA careers, including a 2001-02 NBA Finals matchup and 2010 run together to claim Olympic Gold.

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The Lakers and Suns have played three times this season, with the Suns taking two of three. Brooks was the leading scorer for the Suns in both of their wins, and had some on-court beef with both Doncic and LeBron James. It was nothing out of the ordinary for Brooks, but it was very clear that he doesn’t like the Lakers, and that the players in purple and gold don’t like him.

However, Brooks recently admitted that Doncic — for all their on-court beef — has been the hardest player in the entire NBA for him to guard, via N3onHQ:

“Luka. He’s deceivingly quick. That quick first step, and then once he has you on his hip, it’s like, you’re kind of at his mercy. The foul-baiting, or he has countless of moves like step-throughs, fade-aways. You see him like he just torched up Washington last night. Triple-double in the first half.”

This is not the first defensive-minded player to give Luka this crown, and for the same reason. Doncic may seem like he’s moving at slow motion on the court sometimes, but what he’s really doing is manipulating the speed of the game, and doing do to the defense with it.

Brooks describes Doncic’s first step that gets the defender on his back hip as deceptively quick, and that’s exactly how Luka manipulates time on the basketball court. He plays at a pace that only he knows how to follow, and it leads defenses to always be one step behind in guarding him.

The Lakers and Suns play two more times this season, on Feb. 26 and April 10. It’s also possible that they are a first-round playoff matchup given the crowded Western Conference. Either way, at least behind Brooks’ pesky nature will be a clear respect for the way Doncic plays.

LeBron James loves everything about Luka Doncic

James’ future with the Lakers in firmly in question, and has been ever since the team traded for Doncic. However, what is not in question is LeBron’s positivity about Luka as a person and player. He recently said that he loves everything about the Slovenian superstar.

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