Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Keys to beating the Phoenix Suns in Game 34
By Ethan Temkin
2.) Keep up the bench production
The Lakers bench has seen a resurgence in the past couple of games thanks in large part to the stellar play of Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The scoring output of these two, along with the solid two-way play of Dwight Howard have been instrumental in keeping the team afloat when LeBron James or Anthony Davis sits.
On the other side, the Suns have a solid bench unit as well, with legitimate floor spacers at the center position in Kaminsky and Baynes, and players like Tyler Johnson and Mikal Bridges to take advantage of that spacing. In addition, Deandre Ayton came off the bench in the Sun’s Monday night victory against the Blazers, so it’s possible that Monty Williams opts for this approach again against the Lakers seeing as Ayton is still working his way back from an ankle injury, providing the Sun’s bench with even more firepower than usual.
So, going into this matchup with the Suns, the Lakers bench needs to continue or perhaps even exceed this recent level of production if the Lakers want to come out with a W.