Lakers overcome 22-point deficit to defeat Suns – Daily News

LOS ANGELES — If Tuesday’s season opener displayed what the Lakers will look like under Coach JJ Redick when they’re nailing the little details of the game early, Friday’s 123-116 home win against the Phoenix Suns showed they can kick into an extra gear when needed.

The Lakers came back from a 22-point first-half deficit to beat the Suns for their second victory to kick off the season after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier in the week.

The win marked the first time the Lakers opened a season 2-0 since the 2010-11 season, when they started 8-0.

Anthony Davis was at the center of the Lakers’ turnaround, showing that the Suns, just like the Timberwolves, had no answer for him defensively.

“There’s an intentionality to have him involved as much as possible,” Redick said. “We recognize what type of player he is and that he can create mismatches. The second part would be his patience. There’s a comfort level and a confidence level that he has that if the game starts getting wacky, he knows the ball’s going to come back to him.”

Davis led his team with a game-high 35 points on 11-of-18 shooting to go with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

“He’s been doing this,” said Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who added 26 points. “It’s not un-normal for him to do what he’s been doing. I feel like he’s the best player on our team. And we played through him. And he’s such a high-level talent that I expect him to go out every single night and be dominant.

“What he’s been doing is kind of, it’s unreal obviously, but I expect him to go dominate the game in many facets. I’m just lucky to have him as a teammate.”

Davis went 13 of 17 at the free-throw line, spearheading a Lakers team that went 29 for 39 from the charity stripe.

He became just the third Laker ever with 35-plus points in the first two games of a season, joining Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.

“I’m just going out there playing basketball,” Davis said. “Obviously, the team is doing a good job giving the ball in my spots. It’s easier when guys are making shots and making plays. Just kind of opens up, opens up the floor for me.”

Reaves reached his 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go with eight assists and four rebounds, while LeBron James scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and finished with eight assists and four rebounds.

The Suns took advantage of the Lakers coming out of the gates sluggish, seemingly playing a step or two ahead of the hosts.

Phoenix scored 14 fast-break points in the first quarter and knocked down 15 of its first 22 shots, 14 of them off assists, to take a 38-23 lead into the second that ballooned to 48-26 early in the quarter and 55-35 midway through the second.

The two-man game of Reaves and Davis kept the Lakers in the game, cutting the Suns’ lead to 61-52 at halftime.

The Lakers seemingly cracked the code, at least for one game, before the game’s midway break.

“We got to double-drag ball screens that we kept getting good looks out of,” Reaves said. “And like I said, playing alongside A.D. makes the game so easy. Coming off that ball screen and having him in the pocket just being able to throw him a bounce pass, chest pass, it doesn’t matter.

“I threw a couple of passes that I didn’t think were good passes to him that he caught and finished. Those possessions were huge for us to keep us in the game.”

James stressed how critical it is to get and keep Davis involved from the outset.

“It’s very important that he’s the main focal point for us every single night,” James said. “We know what he’s going to do defensively, but offensively we have to find him in multiple places on the floor throughout the whole game. And we’ve done that through two games.”

They opened the third on an 8-2 run before mixing their defensive coverages and being sharper with their switching on defense, helping them pick up more stops and get out in transition offensively.

“It’s our job to go out and execute the game plan that the coaches put in front of us,” James said. “And we have to earn their trust. And if we go out and execute it, then we’ll continue to get more and more from our coaching staff.”

The Lakers finished with 28 fast-break points despite having just five at the end of the first quarter.

They also tightened up their transition defense, only allowing seven fast-break points in the final three quarters, and their ball security, turning the ball over just six times in the second half after having four turnovers in the first quarter.

“We stopped turning the ball over and we got back in transition,” James said. “They was kicking our butts in transition early on. But a lot of it was because of our turnovers. And it’s hard to get back and get matched on those things. So we cut that down and it allowed us to get back into the game.”