Lakers Defense Ripped by NBA Fans as LeBron James, LAL Lose to Kevin Durant, Suns

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The Los Angeles Lakers were unable to contain the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon, losing by the final score of 123-113.

Phoenix set the tone from the opening tip, putting up 45 points in the first quarter as the team took an early 20-point advantage. The Lakers stormed back in the third quarter to cut the deficit to single digits, although they were unable to string together enough stops to re-take the lead.

LeBron James finished 28 points and seven rebounds while dishing out 12 assists, leading a productive day on offense for Los Angeles’ rotation. In fact, the Lakers shot 43 percent from behind the arc as a team.

Defensive issues were prevalent though, especially on the glass. The Lakers were unable to crash the boards following Phoenix’s misses, as the Suns secured 14 offensive rebounds. This was epitomized by the front court matchup between Anthony Davis and Jusuf Nurkić, as the Suns center finished the game with 22 rebounds compared to 14 for Davis.

Fans were dismayed with the lackluster defense.

It was a balanced effort from the Suns, with four of their five starters scoring at least 20 points. Although Kevin Durant struggled to find his shooting rhythm, he still racked up 22 points and seven assists to go along with two blocks.

Devin Booker was also finding open teammates all game long, dishing out nine assists of his own and scoring 21 points. The Suns have now won eight consecutive home games, while the Lakers fell to 31-28 on the season as a whole.