While the Phoenix Suns exude optimism and the entire team is close to meeting on the court, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking for unity and cohesion amid their injury problems.
The dueling minds will meet on Friday when the Suns host the Lakers, the first time the teams have played in the NBA regular season.
Sun Sand#039; The new backcourt pairing of Bradley Beal and Devin Booker hasn’t played together yet, but the big reveal is coming. Beal made his Suns debut Wednesday after missing the first seven games with a back injury and scored 13 points in 24 minutes against the Chicago Bulls.
andquot;Weand#039;re smart with our rotation and don’t let him make too many long runs,andquot; Suns coach Frank Vogel said Beal, who is dealing with lower back spasms, will likely be out Friday. Booker missed the past six games with a calf injury, but held on in Chicago’s 116-115 overtime win. He was ruled out for Friday and#039;
andquot;(Booker) is making progress, but there is still no firm timeline,andquot; Vogel said.
Phoenix is figuring out how to succeed without its star defense, winning back-to-back road games after a three-game losing streak.
Grayson Allen had his best game for the Suns, scoring 26 points and making a career-best eight 3-pointers on 13 attempts against the Bulls. Kevin Durant scored 25 points for the Suns, while the most important of Jusuf Nurkicand’s 20 points came with 7.3 seconds left in the break to give Phoenix the lead for good.
Vogel, who was fired as head coach of the Lakers after the 2021-22 season, is ready for a double dose of revenge. He was fired two seasons after leading the Lakers to the 2020 NBA title, but he also took the Suns to Los Angeles on October 26 and left with a 100-95 loss.
The Lakers are mired in a three-game losing streak, all on the road, including a 128-94 loss to the undefeated Houston Rockets on Wednesday. All-Star forward Anthony Davis suffered a hip injury two days after scoring 9 points in 25 minutes in a 108-107 loss at Miami.
Rui Hachimura returned after missing four games with a concussion, but big man Jaxson Hayes was out for Los Angeles with an ankle injury. Forward Jarred Vanderbilt has yet to play this season due to a heel injury.
The Lakers are trying to reduce the minutes of 38-year-old star LeBron James, but in eight games he did not even reduce his playing time from last season.
However, Wednesday’s blowout loss allowed head coach Darvin Hamil to sit James for the entire fourth quarter, when he scored 18 points and logged a season-low 27 minutes. At this point, the Lakers will take their wins where they can.
andquot;We cannot create coherence if we do not have our own unit,andquot; James said as the Lakers fell to 0-5 on the road. and it’s that simple. Weand#039;re very exhausted on the injury side. We did a good job of sharing the ball early on offense. We just didn’t get into a rhythm offensively and (the Rockets) shot the ball very well.andquot;
This article first appeared on Field Level Media and has been syndicated with permission.
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