Suns 112, Lakers 106
Gerald Green scored 26 points off the bench and Markieff Morris contributed 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as visiting Phoenix knocked off Los Angeles.
Reserve Isaiah Thomas had 22 points and nine assists as the Suns defeated the Lakers for the second time this season and sixth time in the past seven meetings. Goran Dragic scored 16 points and Marcus Morris added 12 for Phoenix.
Kobe Bryant scored 39 points on 14-of-37 shooting for the Lakers, who continued their worst start since moving to Los Angeles in 1960 by dropping to 0-5. Jeremy Lin tallied 18 points, Jordan Hill had 15 points and 15 rebounds and Carlos Boozer scored 13 points.
The Lakers trailed 98-97 after two free throws by Lin with 3:59 left before Dragic hit two free throws and Eric Bledsoe scored a basket to make it a five-point margin with 2:43 remaining. Bryant drained a 3-pointer with 1:07 to play to pull Los Angeles within 106-104, but Bledsoe made two free throws and P.J. Tucker swished a corner 3-pointer to give Phoenix a seven-point edge with 19.9 seconds left.
Bryant’s basket gave the Lakers a 32-31 lead just prior to the midway point of the second quarter before Phoenix scored the next seven points. The Suns later went on a half-closing 12-4 surge to take a 58-46 lead into the break and increased the advantage to 15 on Dragic’s layup early in the third quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Bryant played 44 minutes and had nine rebounds but just one assist. … The Suns had a 58-42 edge in points in the paint. … The Lakers went 0-7 in 1957-58 when the franchise was located in Minneapolis.