LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers started 2020 off with a bang. LeBron James and company came into Wednesday's game against the division rival Phoenix Suns intent on getting a third win in a row and imposing their will against a struggling team. Frank Vogel's team did just that as they took care of Devin Booker's squad with relative ease, 117-107.
The first quarter told the tale with the Lakers coming out firing, putting up a season high for a quarter this season with 43 points. Los Angeles didn't let off the gas in the second quarter, adding another 31 points to their total to head into halftime with a 33-point lead. L.A. led by as much as 36 points before almost letting Phoenix back into the game in the fourth, but were fortunate enough to close the door on their comeback hopes.
After the game, head coach Frank Vogel talked about the Lakers' hot start against the Suns and a message he gave to the team to start the new year.
“I am asking our guys to dominate everybody they play,” Vogel said on his message to the team. “We played a stretch of games where we played against teams with winning records, and we have a few games against teams that are playing good basketball but don't have winning records, and you have to come into the game with a mindset to dominate. I think our guys took that message to heart and really came after these guys to start the game. I was proud of them.”
Along with a dominant performance by the rest of the starters, LeBron finished with his eighth triple-double of the season, which is second in the NBA in that category. James scored a team-high 31 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
Anthony Davis also had a solid performance against the Suns, with the Lakers newcomer adding 26 points and ripping down 11 rebounds in the win. This was the last game before Davis faces his former team at Staples Center for the first time since being traded over the summer.
The Lakers will continue their home stand on Friday when they host the New Orleans Pelicans.
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