LOS ANGELES — A mask covered Monty Williams’ mouth, meaning you couldn’t see his jaw drop when he heard the question. But his eyes? They opened wide like a perfectly spaced court.
Minutes earlier, Los Angeles Lakers fill-in coach David Fizdale talked about the Phoenix Suns becoming one of the NBA’s best teams by balancing star power with offensive balance — a team with guys who can get 50 points but are even more lethal when a handful score 20.
How, then, have the Suns pulled off what the Lakers have tried so hard to figure out — getting players with clout like Chris Paul and Devin Booker and up-and-coming reputations like Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges to function as one?
“That’s not something I’ve ever even thought about. I can’t even answer that,” Williams said sounding a little stumped. “ ... I know who they are. I value them on a different level, not on their stardom. I value them on their commitment to the program. And to me, that means more than anything.”
Stardom is the Lakers’ program — the title banners and retired numbers position side-by-side in their home arena’s rafters as a constant reminder.
But stars aren’t getting it done, at least not this group with this team, Tuesday another reminder that the Lakers simply aren’t in the class of the NBA’s best teams.
The Suns, at first slowly and then ferociously, picked the Lakers apart, asserting their dominance in a 108-90 victory.
Even before Anthony Davis injured his knee Friday, the Lakers have been chasing an attitude that diverts from that, preaching teamwork over individualism. Frank Vogel has gone as far to tell his players that the “open man” is more talented than anyone on the court (save for maybe LeBron James).
With Davis out, the Lakers are chasing the Suns’ balanced identity even more. Star or not, the Lakers need to start doing the things that equal winning basketball — by hanging on to the basketball and grabbing rebounds.
“The hard part is, like I told them, is just the switch that we have to make in ourselves that a lot of these guys were a lone star or a star next to a guy and had a bunch of role players doing all this crap for them already. And they could throw the ball away and the team could live with it,” Fizdale said pregame. “But now we got a bunch of stars and we can’t have a lot of guys turning the ball over and a lot of guys missing block outs or expecting somebody else to do dirty work. We all have to do it. We all have to be role players in a certain respect.”
If there’s an exception, it’s James — still bigger, stronger and more explosive than almost any other player in the game. Playing with plenty of pace and force, James has been barreling into the paint, picking up the interior scoring with Davis down.
But the fragility of the Lakers’ hopes was on full display Tuesday when James rolled his left ankle and slammed his hand repeatedly onto the court, like a wrestling referee counting a pin.
The crowd stayed mostly silent until James finally got up and shook off the injury during a timeout, a scene that’s been repeated throughout his career thanks to his famously strong ankles.
With James playing, the Lakers largely committed to the team’s game plan. They turned the ball over just once in the first quarter and fought the much-bigger Suns off the glass.
Those two things hid so many of the Lakers’ other deficiencies. Their offense without Davis is hard to ignore, especially with a handful of players including Malik Monk still in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Talen Horton-Tucker, who missed the last week after being the first Laker to enter the protocols, returned and started. But he struggled badly, making just 1-of-13 shots. Isaiah Thomas, one of the replacement players the Lakers signed, was just as bad shooting 1-of-11.
Trevor Ariza, playing in his second game this season, saw his minutes limit increased and looked like a player who should compliment the Lakers once whole, but even 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting couldn’t make a difference.
Defensively, the Lakers got mostly lucky early, the Suns just missing shots more than the Lakers doing anything to stop them.
Eventually, the Lakers’ mistakes caught up with them.
Russell Westbrook bounced off Phoenix defenders on his way into the paint before throwing a pass away. The Suns turned it into three points quickly on the other side.
Ayton and former Laker JaVale McGee feasted on the Lakers’ lack of size. Ayton scored 19 and McGee had 10. They combined to miss just four shots. Devin Booker led seven Suns scorers in double figures with 24.
The Lakers’ desires for a full team effort were largely reduced to James and, at times, Westbrook, trying to make plays on one end with five Suns hurting them from all angles on the other.
Together, James and Westbrook were fine — combining to scored 56 points on 23-of-39 shooting. But that was it — no team basketball to speak of, that Lakers with just 14 assists while the Suns had 29.
Star power? The Lakers had plenty. The better team? That belongs to the Suns.
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