LeBron James, near the end of a brutally tough shooting night, intentionally missed a free throw to try and create an offensive rebound and salvage his bad night.
But the Suns corralled the loose ball, the last big moment in a 109-105 win that gave the Lakers their first loss of the season.
Faced with a choice during a timeout inside the final minute with his team down three, Lakers coach JJ Redick made a decision.
He was going to go for it.
Despite time on the clock for the Lakers to have multiple possessions, Redick designed a play to get Austin Reaves an open three. And while the play itself created the look the Lakers wanted, the shot didn’t fall.
The team got another stop and another chance, but Phoenix fouled rather than give the Lakers a chance to hit a tying three. James made the first free throw, but rather than make the second and foul the Suns, he tried to force the offensive rebound.
He finished with just 11 points, making only three of his 14 shots.
Anthony Davis had 29 and Reaves scored 23 in the loss to the Suns. Devin Booker had 33 for Phoenix, and Kevin Durant had 30.
Validation can come in other ways, like it did Monday morning for the Lakers and Davis when he was named player of the week in the Western Conference for his first-week dominance.
While the award itself is about as temporary of official praise the NBA offers, it, like so much of what’s happened in the early going, it only adds credibility to Redick’s vision about what the Lakers should be doing on a nightly basis.
Calling Davis the “hub” of the team’s offense shortly after he got the job, the Lakers have fully committed to their big man being their first offensive option. And he’s rewarded them.
“We talk as a team a lot about choices and so, for me, that was a choice that was made on Day 1 and then you just kind of, that choice has been made,” Redick said pregame Monday. “There’s nothing else that you need to do. Now you go to the next priority. Obviously I think even in preseason and through the first three regular season games, I think that choice has been evident and our guys down the line have embraced that choice.”
The Lakers dug into that choice again early on Monday night, Davis somehow looking even more dominant than he did in a string of three-straight games with more than 30 points.
In the first nine minutes Monday, Davis scored 16 points against the Suns while delivering the defensive highlights that have helped define his career, such as blocking Durant when the two met at the rim.
But when Davis exited the game, the Suns quickly erased a lead that was as large as 18.
