The Lakers might be the Suns kryptonite, defeating them for the third time already this season, and it certainly was a Crypto night in LA as the Suns lost to the Lakers 106-103 in the quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament. The Lakers didn’t win this game, though. The Suns put it up for grabs in the first half, and the refs stole it in the last minute of the game.
THE PLAY
Grayson Allen was likely about to get a wide-open game-tying layup with seconds left, as the ball squirted away from Austin Reaves’ hands and Allen darted towards it. But then the whistle blew. The refs had given Lebron and the Lakers a timeout even though the ball was clearly loose and not even close to being in Reaves’ hand still. Watch for yourself.
This is one of the worst calls you will ever see on the hardwood. You have 3 officials standing there not knowing what’s going on. You have one who sees Lebron signal for a timeout and either doesn’t realize or doesn’t care that the ball was knocked loose multiple seconds earlier. But worst of all, they don’t even review it!  Tell me how many times you’ve seen the refs extend a game by 5 or 10 minutes reviewing every little call. Here you have a blatantly wrong call and they don’t even talk about it or try to review it? Can’t wait to see the L2M report!
SUNS DROPPED THE BALL
Despite this inexcusable call, the Suns never should have put themselves in that position. They got down by 12 at the half due to taking 18 fewer shots. The Lakers had 12 offensive boards at the half, en route to a season high 21. The Suns also had 13 turnovers in the first half, ending up with 20. Book had 5 TOs alone in the first half and ended with 7. Durant also had 5.
The Suns shot 49 percent for the game and 48 percent from three, 12-25. The Lakers shot a woeful 37 percent, but they got up 102 shots to the Suns 75. It’s hard for anyone to win when taking 27 fewer shots.
Player of the game for the Suns was a duel between Kevin Durant and Grayson Allen. Allen had 21 points with 4 threes, but most of his damage was in the first half. KD finished with 31 points on 12-17 shooting with 7 rebounds. Booker put up some numbers with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists, but he was inefficient, having shot 6 for 16 and committing the 7 TOs.
KD’s performance was amazing given he fell multiple times and was holding his leg at times. The Suns have to hope this is nothing and that he will not miss any time. They’ve had so many injuries already. But if he is not close to 100%, it is better to rest him than to risk further injury.
Lebron showed that the King isn’t washed, as he was most of the way to a quadruple-double with 31 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 steals. No one on the Suns could slow him down. Like earlier in the season, he repeatedly drove by Jusuf Nurkic, who was a complete traffic cone in the lane and also finished with only 3 points and 8 rebounds.
Suns had even less of an answer for Anthony Davis. When he was aggressive, he bullied the Suns, making them look tiny.  He finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds on 10-26 shooting. He couldn’t make his jumper, and it’s inexplicable why he took so many and let the Suns hang around. Reaves chipped in 20 off the bench and hit the dagger 3 with 16 seconds left that ended up being the difference.
In Season Tournament
The Suns are now out of the In-Season Tournament. They will play their consolation game against Sacramento in Phoenix on Friday so that they finish with 82 games.  They should be going to Las Vegas and playing in the semifinals, but when you have a rough game from your point guard leader and you lose the field goal battle by 27, you leave that opportunity where the refs can make one call that ends your season…you’re in-season.
