– Battle of contrasting styles
Coming into the game, the Lakers and the Suns had an interesting battle of contrasting styles. The Suns are a team that likes to get out and run, while shooting the ball early and often from 3-point land. For the Lakers, they are built on playing sound defense. On offense, they can hurt you in multiple ways, but they do most of their damage on the inside.
Despite hitting 16 3-pointers in this game, the Suns weren’t able to come out with a victory. Phoenix shot it at a very solid 42.1 percent, but the Lakers were able to stay close enough from behind the arc, while punishing the Suns’ stretch bigs on the inside.
Between the combination of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard, the Lakers received 23 points from the center position. In addition to those two, Anthony Davis scored 24 points.
While the Lakers are certainly a better 3-point shooting team than they were last season, their best offense is still in the paint. Staying true to their identity and not hitting the panic button when the Suns had their 3-pointers falling was a big part of why the won this game. With a shooting percentage from the field over 50 percent, the Lakers were able to make up for some of their struggles at the free-throw line.