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Anthony Davis and Dalton Knecht shine in the Lakers' preseason overtime win over the Suns


Anthony Davis and Dalton Knecht shine in the Lakers' preseason overtime win over the Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers faced the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night in their penultimate preseason game. With Friday's preseason finale coming up for the second game in a row, it was thought this would be a dress rehearsal with near-normal rotations for the Lakers.

However, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura were out on game day, leaving JJ Redick already without two of his starters and others due to minute restrictions. The Lakers still played solid overall and earned a 128-122 win in overtime.

Anthony Davis was on the roster for the Lakers and scored eight consecutive points, including two rare triples, to give his team an 8-3 lead.

Davis didn't stop there and made two more 3-pointers, but Devin Booker responded well with one of his own, cutting the Lakers' lead to 20-18.

Meanwhile, Austin Reaves came on offense at the end of the first quarter and gave the Lakers a 35-30 lead.

Reaves continued his winning streak into the second half and, along with Davis, was the Lakers' top scorer in the first half. However, the defense slowed towards the end of the second quarter as Booker stayed hot, giving the Suns a 67-62 halftime lead.

The Lakers were clearly superior with James and Hachimura missing while Booker and Kevin Durant did their best offensively, but LA held on for most of the third quarter.

Davis appeared ready for the regular season as D'Angelo Russell found him for some easy shots, giving the big man 26 points in three quarters. With not much defense being played, the Lakers trailed 90-82 at the end of the third period.

Davis actually stayed in for the first half of the fourth quarter and continued his dominance, posting 35 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 34 minutes.

However, despite Davis' efforts and some nice outside shooting from rookie Dalton Knecht, the Lakers fell behind late.

They were down three in the final seconds, and Knecht added another goal at 4.8 to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, it was Knecht who continued to hit open and contested 3s and led the Lakers to an impressive comeback victory.

Knecht scored 35 points with Davis, including 20 in a row for the Lakers, on 10 of 18 shooting and 8 of 13 from distance.

What's next for the Lakers?

The Lakers will close out the preseason on Friday night on the road against the Golden State Warriors, with their starter likely sitting out the second round. They then open the regular season on Tuesday at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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