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LeBron James and Anthony Davis shine for the Lakers in their preseason debut against the Suns


LeBron James and Anthony Davis shine for the Lakers in their preseason debut against the Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night in the second of their two preseason games at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers will play a total of six preseason games.

This marked the debut of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, marking the first time the Lakers had their full starting lineup. Apart from center Jusuf Nurkic, who is struggling with a thumb injury, the Suns also had the entire lineup available.

While the Lakers' regular players built a nice lead within a few minutes, the young players at the end of the bench ultimately couldn't close out the game as the Suns escaped with a 118-114 victory.

Davis got off to a quick start as he caught a lob from Austin Reaves and then hit him with a three-pointer. Davis then found a layup from D'Angelo Russell that gave the Lakers an early 11-7 lead.

Reaves brought the sauce to Max Christie with a nice dish for a dunk and then a three-point play of his own. James then went downhill to cap off a great first quarter for the Lakers as they led the Suns 34-25.

Early in the second quarter, LeBron and his son Bronny James made history by becoming the first father-son duo to share the floor together in an NBA game. Bronny played four minutes and didn't score before Lakers coach JJ Redick returned to his normal rotation players.

However, LeBron stayed hot, ending the half with two three-pointers and a lob to Davis. James had 19, Davis 17 and Russell 12 at the break, giving the Lakers a 69-57 lead.

As expected, both teams' stars were wiped out after the first half as Christie and Jaxson Hayes started in place of James and Davis.

Reaves and Russell were in charge of the Lakers for most of the third quarter, keeping their lead at double digits. Cam Reddish made his first preseason run in the third quarter after dealing with ankle soreness, hitting a 3-pointer within four minutes.

The Suns began to push past the Lakers' reserves to end the third, but Gabe Vincent hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give LA a 92-85 lead.

With reserves, two-way players and G Leaguers finishing the game for both teams, the Lakers squandered their lead until the final minutes.

However, Christie was still there for the Lakers, reaching double figures on his consecutive three-pointers. However, the Suns reserves finished better than the Lakers and secured the victory for Phoenix.

What's next for the Lakers?

The Lakers will now hit the road to face the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, with the second game taking place in Las Vegas.

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