Anthony Davis, LeBron James deliver for Lakers in Game 2 win over Suns to even series
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PHOENIX — LeBron James and Anthony Davis showed why they’re two of the top five players in the NBA when it mattered most Tuesday.
With the Phoenix Suns erasing a 15-point deficit, the defending NBA champions were in danger of falling behind 2-0 going back to Los Angeles.
Then James and Davis delivered.
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Scoring a combined 57 points, the All-Star duo made key plays down the stretch in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 109-102 win before a sellout crowd of 11,919 at Phoenix Suns Arena to knot the best-of-7 series at 1-1.
Davis scored a game-high 34 while James added 23 as the Lakers responded to Sunday’s Game 1 loss in limiting the Suns to 30.8% shooting from 3. Game 3 is Thursday in Los Angeles.
With the Lakers up one, Davis made a weakside block on Deandre Ayton, who had the much shorter Alex Caruso defending him in the post with 3:15 left.
Ayton had passed up a shot earlier in the shot clock with Caruso on him. By the time he got it back, Davis rejected his shot. Ayton only missed two shots all game.
On the ensuing possession, James hit a jumper to make the difference three, 95-92.
Then after Devin Booker missed a jumper, Davis made a 3 to put the Lakers up 98-92 with 2:15 left. James put the final touches on the Lakers’ win with a 3 to extend their lead to 103-94 with 49.8 seconds left.
“That’s what they do,” Lakers guard Dennis Schroder said of Davis and James.
Booker scored a team-high 31 as Chris Paul wasn’t himself with the right shoulder injury he suffered in Game 1. The 16-year veteran finished with six points in 23 minutes.
Paul played just 5:51 in the second half with just 2:38 coming in the fourth. The 11-time All-Star didn’t play the final seven minutes of the game.
Ayton went for 22 points on 11-of-13 shooting with 10 rebounds, while Paul’s backup, Cameron Payne, added 19 points and a team-high seven assists.
The Suns trailed 63-48 early in the third as the Lakers opened the second half on a 10-1 run, but Phoenix trimmed the lead down to seven going into the fourth as Cam Johnson hit back-to-back 3s to close the quarter.
Riding momentum, Phoenix came all the way back to take the lead, 88-86, on an Ayton dunk with 6:14 left.
A 3 by Marc Gasol put the Lakers back up one, but Ayton once again answered with a dunk to put Phoenix back on top.
However, the Suns didn’t have another field goal for the game’s final 4:04 after Payne’s drive sliced the Lakers’ lead to one, 93-92.
Follow Duane Rankin on Twitter @DuaneRankin.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Anthony Davis, LeBron James deliver for Lakers in Game 2 win over Suns to even series