Suns Win Game 1 vs LA Lakers
- Matt Elvy
- May 24, 2021
- 4 min read
The Suns defeat the LA Lakers 99 - 90 in Game 1.
What a way to return to the Playoffs!
In their 1st NBA Playoff game in 11 years, the underdog Phoenix Suns beat the LA Lakers to take game 1, in this 1st round, Western Conference match -up.
This game had everything you could hope for from a Playoff game. In the lead up to the game, the 2nd seed Suns are seen by many as the underdogs to the 7 seed Lakers, yet they come in to this one showing no fear, shutting up all the doubters out there. Booker and Ayton showed no signs of stage fright, as they combined for 55 points, in their Playoff debuts. Chris Paul had to leave the game part way through the the 2nd quarter with a shoulder injury, to ultimately return to the court and finish the game. And then there was the crowd, they were amazing. A Playoff starved city came together to cheer on their beloved basketball team, against the big bully that lives up the street.
Where do we start? Let's go with the CP3 injury. This was a complete freak accident and occurred after Cam Johnson seemed to knock in to Paul, as they both swarmed under the basket to try and stop a LeBron James lay-up. Paul immediately grabbed his right shoulder and went to the ground. You could see him trying to move his arm, as if he had lost feeling in it. The way he was trying to move it made me automatically think the shoulder was dislocated. Both teams seemed concerned and Chris was helped off the court and went back to the locker room.
When it happened you could feel then energy get completely sucked out of the arena, even all the way over here in Blighty. All of a sudden my head was swirling with thoughts of hip-checks, bloody noses, swollen eyes and suspended power forwards. Alas, the Point God would return. In a time out with about 1 minute 30 remaining in the 1st half, the arena erupted as Paul made his way towards the huddle, high fiving team mates, as he went. He took to the court to shoot some short, baseline jumpers, but he did not look in good shape. Upon taking the court, he didn't seem to have full control of the ball, fumbling it more times in this 1 game, than he has probably all season. Though he was hesitant to shoot (he did hit 2 more shots on the night), his presence alone still kept the Lakers on their feet, as we all know how dangerous he can be on the offensive end.
The team later confirmed that the injury is a shoulder contusion. When asked after the game whether he would be ok to play in game 2 he simply responded, "absolutely". Chris finished the game with 7 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists.
Devin Booker was excellent throughout this game and you could see that he was locked in from the start. He missed his 1st shot, but would go on to end the 1st quarter shooting 4 of 7 for 9 points. He seemed to be able to get a bucket when ever the team needed one. When CP3 went down, Book stepped up and took charge, driving to the hoop for a huge dunk, to try and bring some energy back in to the building. He would become our lead ball handler and playmaker down the stretch, with Paul struggling with his shoulder. The Lakers threw double teams at Booker from the get-go, but he didn't waver, but got the ball to his open teammates.
He finished the game with 34 points, which is the most by a Suns player in their Playoff debut. He also added 7 rebounds and 8 assists.
In a game that had Chris Paul, Anthony Davis and LeBron James in it, it was Booker who was the star that shined the brightest. Doubters be gone!
Deandre Ayton had a career night. He was focussed and engaged from the tip off, scoring 10 points in the 1st quarter on 5 for 6 shooting. He was brilliant defensively all night, even when tasked with stopping Anthony Davis. The DA we've seen on multiple occasions throughout the season was on display, setting picks and rolling to the basket, crashing the offensive boards like a madman and playing smart, straight up defense. I was worried about the Lakers' size and length going in to this series, but in this game at least, DA was better than all their bigs combined.
He finished the game shooting 10 of 11 for 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds - 8 of them on the offensive end. He is the 1st Suns player to have 20+ points and 15+ rebounds in his Playoff debut.
In case you don't want to do the maths yourself, Book and DA combined for 55 points and 23 rebounds.
After taking a 2 point lead with 5 minutes remaining in the 1st quarter, the Suns would not give up the lead for the rest of the game, even increasing said lead to 15 and 16 points throughout the 3rd and 4th quarters.
The Suns are back where they belong, in the Playoffs and they have proved to the world that these young guys, with no Playoff experience are ready to take on the challenge of the defending champions.
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