Five years. It’s been almost five years, and on “Christmas Day” 2018, that LeBron James And Kevin Durant had no longer faced each other in an official match. This long wait ended last night, as the two men were dressed and ready to fight. Los Angelesunlike Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, injured and therefore absent for Phoenix.
The start of the match is to the advantage of Suns who, after conceding an initial 7-0, put their minds back together by punishing the lethargy on the rebound and the lack of desire of the Lakers. More responsible with the ball in hand, Eric Gordon admires his talent in attack and Jusuf Nurkic does another monster job under the circle to offer second chances to his team. On the Angeleno side, the rotations are bad, the address is at half mast – especially at 3-points – and the gap logically increases (30-18).
We could imagine it, but minutes without Kevin Durant are as complicated for Phoenix as they are for Los Angeles without LeBron James. Consequently, under the impetus of a good D’Angelo Russell on each side, the “Purple & Gold” are picking up the score. “KD” back and more aggressive in scoring, the Arizona players are regaining color, but LA is holding on thanks to LeBron and Anthony Davisas well as a better controlled racket (52-48).
LeBron James is already playing more than expected…
The break has absolutely no effect on the rhythm of Kevin Durant, who returns from the locker room with the intention of putting the Lakers out of harm’s way. Author of 15 points over the period, he helped the Suns take flight on the scoreboard and the ease with which he cut through the Californian defense was striking. Short of solutions defensively and not really sharp in attack, because they fail to deploy their fast game, Anthony Davis’ teammates find themselves in deep trouble (84-72).
Luckily for Los Angeles, Kevin Durant rested at the start of the fourth quarter and as in the first half, this was enough to revive the “Purple & Gold”. Anthony Davis, Christian Wood And Gabe Vincent pass the second, Phoenix loses balloons and the gap melts like snow in the sun. Darvin Ham’s men manage to take control in the “money time” and, despite Durant’s efforts, the decisive baskets near the circle of LeBron James, coupled with the offensive failure of the Suns, offer victory to the Lakers (100- 95).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– A stunning fourth quarter. 84-72 Suns, twelve minutes to play. When suddenly, Kevin Durant goes to rest on the bench. Moment chosen by the Lakers to overthrow the second knives of Phoenix, lost without their leader. This was already the case in the first period and, this time, Frank Vogel’s players will not recover from this collective collapse (10 ball losses in the quarter!). When “KD” returns, he struggles to gain the upper hand over Anthony Davis and especially Christian Wood, while LeBron James comes out of his box to score killer baskets, despite a significant amount of playing time (35 minutes).
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Kevin Durant. 39 points and unchallenged domination for “KD”, heroic but lonely without Devin Booker or Bradley Beal. His 8 lost balls are regrettable, but we readily forgive him as he was the only one who could bring danger to the Suns side. It’s no coincidence that his two outings completely revived the Lakers in each half…
✅ Anthony Davis. Vengeful after his first failed outing, “AD” bounced back well and behaved like a boss, as hoped by his coach and LeBron James. He took the advantage over Jusuf Nurkic and his association with Christian Wood did the Lakers a lot of good in the last act. It’s not Kevin Durant who will say the opposite.
⛔ Jusuf Nurkic. Apart from this first quarter where he dominated under the circle, the Bosnian did not weigh on the match, standing out above all for his clumsiness, his mistakes and his lost balls. Problematic in the absence of the Booker/Beal duo, since he was supposed to be Kevin Durant’s main lieutenant.
⛔ Los Angeles 3-point address. Only 5 out of 29 by far for the Lakers who, like D’Angelo Russell (1/7), Gabe Vincent (0/5) or LeBron James (1/5), were sorely lacking in success in this exercise .
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
