Lakers smash Suns, snap eight-game skid
PHOENIX -- D'Angelo Russell scored 28 points as the Los Angeles Lakers broke an eight-game losing streak with a 122-110 win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.
The victory was the first for the Lakers since Magic Johnson took over as the team's president of basketball operations.
The Lakers also broke an 11-game losing streak at Phoenix. Los Angeles' previous victory in Arizona came on Jan. 5, 2011.
Jordan Clarkson scored 19 for the Lakers (20-45), while Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac had 14 points apiece. Larry Nance Jr. and Julius Randle both had 13 points and eight boards.
Devin Booker put up 23 points to pace the Suns (21-44), but he scored only six points in the second half. Marquese Chriss added 18 points, while TJ Warren (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Alan Williams (16 points, 10 rebounds) each had a double-double.
Early on, the Suns put on a running, lobbing, dunking show in jumping out to a 28-20 lead. The Lakers countered by hitting 6 of 10 on 3-point tries in the first quarter, pulling within 33-32 heading into the second.
Booker poured in 13 points in the second period, and the Suns took a 63-61 lead into halftime.
The Lakers held the Suns to just 20 points in the third quarter and took a 90-81 lead.
When Nance, normally a non-shooter, hit a 3-pointer with 9:00 left, the Lakers had a comfortable 102-87 lead.
The Suns and Lakers finished their season series tied, 2-2.
NOTES: Lakers coach Luke Walton (36) and Suns coach Earl Watson (37) are the NBA's youngest head coaches. ... Walton said he wants to see C Ivica Zubac play with his starting group more often, but Zubac has been slowed by a leg bruise. In Thursday's game, though, Zubac made 7 of 13 shots in just 17 minutes. ... Suns C Alan Williams got his fifth straight double-double off the bench in just 23 minutes. The only other Suns reserve with a double-double streak of five games was Larry Nance from Feb. 17-22, 1988. ... Williams grew up in Phoenix and was undrafted out of UC Santa Barbara. His mother recently was named Phoenix's police chief. "It's an amazing story," Watson said of Williams' unexpected growth as a player. ... The teams have met 241 times, with the Lakers holding a 136-105 lead.