Anthony Davis carries Lakers in win over Suns

Anthony Davis’ 42 points and 12 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers’ 13 made shots from three-point range overwhelmed the Phoenix Suns in a 123-110 home win on Sunday, May 9 (Monday, May 10, Manila time).

Los Angeles (38-30) avoided the three-game season sweep by Phoenix (48-20) and remained one game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference standings with 4 games left.

The top 6 teams avoid the play-in tournament to reach the playoffs.

The Suns are now two games behind Utah (50-18) atop the Western Conference with only 4 games remaining.

Ben McLemore went 4 for 7 from three-point range and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope shot 4-of-9 from that far for Los Angeles. McLemore had 12 points and Caldwell-Pope put up 17.

Alex Caruso had 17 points, 11 more than his average. Davis shot 15-of-17 from the free throw line. The Lakers were 32-of-41 in free throws.

Los Angeles, which lost 8 of its previous 10 games, played without LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, and Dennis Schroder.

After being out 6 weeks because of an ankle injury, James has missed the last 4 games with the same injury. Kuzma was sidelined with tightness in his back and Schroder is out due to health and safety protocols.

Deandre Ayton, coming off a 26-point and 15-rebound performance against the New York Knicks on Friday, had only 6 points and 6 rebounds against the Lakers.

Cameron Payne had a career-high 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting from field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range.

Chris Paul had 13 points and 10 assists.

Devin Booker finished with 21 points, but he made only 5 of 14 shots from the field and missed his only three-point attempt.

Phoenix, which never led, cut the lead to 78-67 with 4:14 left in the 3rd quarter, but a three-pointer by McLemore and two free throws and a jump shot by Davis pushed the lead to 85-68 about a minute later.

Phoenix made 12 of its first 13 shots in the 4th quarter to cut the lead to 115-108 with 3:57 remaining.

The Suns then made only 1 more shot in 7 attempts, had a turnover, and Jae Crowder got whistled for a technical foul. – Rappler.com