Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons in marathon win against the Phoenix Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their seven-game losing streak to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. Will the Lakers start a new one? Lake Show Life breaks down the game in-depth with Lake Show Life Lessons!

The Los Angeles Lakers went on the road to Phoenix trying to make sure that a losing streak wasn’t in the cards in their first game of a back to back. After being knocked down a notch by the World Champion Toronto Raptors, they found themselves on the ropes late against the Phoenix Suns.

To be clear here, this is not the Phoenix Suns that NBA fans have gotten used to the last five years. Head coach Monty Williams has teamed up with GM James Jones to turn the culture around in the desert.

The Phoenix Suns showed the Lakers and fans watching why they are one of the best shooting teams in the NBA. They put on a 3-point barrage that possibly showed a chink in the Lakers’ defensive armor.

Rajon Rondo made his season debut and played okay scoring 5 points, grabbing six rebounds and seven assists in 14 minutes of work. A couple of observations about Rajon Rondo in the game. First, he actually played. Did anyone really believe he was going to play before he ACTUALLY got on the floor?

Two, after being M.I.A. for about a month before finally playing, did he really push the needle on what the Lakers need to compete against the big boys of the Western Conference? A game like this invokes the thoughts of the late Dennis Green.

Rondo is what we all thought he was. The Lakers’ offense at times looked better and didn’t fall off the cliff with LeBron on the bench. However, Rondo still can’t guard any of the statues in front of the Staples Center.

With Rondo on the floor, the defense took a nosedive. But to anyone thinking that the Lakers will trade Rajon Rondo, stop. One, the man has a no-trade clause in his contract. Two.

AD loves the guy, period, point-blank. Frank Vogel and the coaching staff has some serious decisions to make. Vogel is trying to implement a defensive culture. Rondo hasn’t played defense since the Obama administration (Like his first term!).

Despite defensive issues from the Lakers, they outlasted a much-improved Suns team, 123-115. Best believe the game was closer than the score reads.

Some will be left with questions of how this Lakers team would fare if the Lakers’ front office had hired Monty Williams instead of Frank Vogel. What he has done with that Suns roster could land him coach of the year if they keep playing well.

This game showed the challenge of the Lakers’ identity going forward. This will be fascinating as analytics and old school matchups will eventually collide.

In the game, Phoenix’s 3-point shooting, for the first time this season, challenged the inside physicality of the Lakers. The Lake Show destroyed the Suns in the paint scoring an obscene 70 points. Phoenix, on the other hand, knocked out 16 shots from the land of the extra point. It actually took a few 3-point shots for the Lakers to survive against a much improved Suns team.

This Lakers team is probably one of two teams (The Clippers being the other!) that have the ability to challenge the analytics crazed 3-point offenses of the NBA. Nights like this will push the Lakers to the limits with occasional math pop quizzes.

Will they continue to punish teams down low for two points with inconsistent long-range shooters? Or will they bail on their obvious advantage and start firing up 3-pointers like they are the next Golden State Warriors?

Let’s get to a wild, yet weird, Lake Show Life Lessons.