Anthony Davis scored 35 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Austin Reaves added 26 points and eight assists as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a sluggish start to beat the visiting Phoenix Suns 123-116 on Friday.
The Lakers gave up 38 points in the first quarter and fell behind by 22 in the early second quarter before chipping away at the deficit and trailing by nine at halftime.
After playing Phoenix even for much of the third quarter, a 20-6 Lakers run in the period gave Los Angeles its first lead since holding a 9-7 advantage less than four minutes into the game.
The third-quarter surge turned the tide the Lakers’ way for the remainder of the night. A 9-1 run early in the fourth quarter opened a 10-point lead that the Lakers maintained much of the way.
Los Angeles answered each Phoenix attempt to mount a comeback, including on one fast break in which LeBron James snapped a no-look bounce pass to Davis for an emphatic dunk. The play resulted in a brief stoppage after former Lakers player Dwight Howard, sitting courtside, nearly wandered onto the floor in celebration.
The Lakers got another critical basket when Phoenix cut the deficit to six points on a Devin Booker 3-pointer near the two-minute mark. Rui Hachimura, who scored 14 points for Los Angeles, answered with a 3-pointer of his own.
The Lakers improved to 2-0 to open a season for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Davis joined Jerry West and Elgin Baylor as the third Laker all time with back-to-back 35-point-plus games to open a season.
Kevin Durant scored 30 points to lead the Suns. Booker added 23 points and Bradley Beal chipped in 15 points and nine assists. Tyus Jones, who dished eight assists without a turnover in his Phoenix debut on Wednesday vs. the Clippers, scored 14 points but had two turnovers on Friday.
–Field Level Media
