Lakers stifle Suns to clinch home-court advantage for 1st round of playoffs

LOS ANGELES — Everybody wants to play the Lakers.

Everybody wants to play – and beat – the Lakers, the team limping to the finish line without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves available for most or perhaps all of the first round of the playoffs. At least, according to Lakers coach JJ Redick that’s the case. He said as much on Friday night before their game against the Phoenix Suns.

“I’m sure everybody wants to play us,” Redick said, an hour after the Denver Nuggets announced they were sitting their entire starting lineup against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder; in what could have been a maneuver to manufacture a matchup against the Lakers. “Let’s get that out there. Everybody wants to play us.”

The Nuggets won anyway. And the Lakers (52-29) more than handled their business against the Suns, 101-73, to clinch home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, winning after the Houston Rockets had their winning streak snapped by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 136-132 home loss on Friday night.

LeBron James, back in the face-of-the-franchise role for the short-handed Lakers, had 28 points, 12 assists and six rebounds to help hold Phoenix at bay, while Luke Kennard continued to pour in production with a 19-point, three-assist performance.

“The last week has been a big shock to everybody with all the news and stuff, but to come out the last couple games and get two big wins and solidify us being at home to start the playoffs is huge for us,” Kennard said.

The Lakers can finish no worse than the No. 4 seed, in which case they would square off with the fifth-seeded Rockets (51-30) in a best-of-seven series. Should the Lakers defeat the Utah Jazz (22-59) on Sunday and the Nuggets (53-28) fall to the San Antonio Spurs (62-19), the Lakers would jump to the No. 3 seed and meet sixth-seeded Minnesota (48-33) in the first round.

“I think no matter who we play, we’re going to be ready to fight from Day One, game one,” Kennard said. “And they got to come here first, no matter who it is, and I think we’re going to look forward to it.”

Every first-round series will begin next weekend (April 18 or 19). The perseverance, playing just 29 games with James, Doncic and Reaves healthy together, and then to claw their way to home-court advantage, is something Redick shone light on multiple times Friday night.

“Let’s not discredit what this group did for the regular season, regardless of what happens in the playoffs,” Redick said during an impassioned postgame press conference after the Lakers tied their most wins since the 2019-2020 championship campaign. “Because to clinch home court and to win 52 games, possibly 53 games, deal with the amount of adversity we had.”

Redick had pointed to James as a leader on an off the court over the past few days. The Lakers, who stumbled through three consecutive defeats as they adjusted to life without Doncic and Reaves – met as a team before their game in San Francisco, where James set a standard for his teammates.

It worked in Thursday’s victory over the Golden State Warriors. And on Friday, in the second game of a back-to-back set, James started by sparking the Lakers’ offense. The 41-year-old scored or assisted on nine of the Lakers’ first 10 baskets as they streaked to an early 16-point lead against Phoenix, and he had 14 points by the end of the first quarter.

“I had to tap back into a role that I’ve been accustomed to in the past, but obviously it wasn’t what it was this year,” said James, who shot 10 for 16 from the field, made both of his 3-point attempts and added five steals. “But circumstances have put me back in there and I’m just trying to feed off my teammates, teammates are feeding off of me and just trying to make things happen for us to continue to stay afloat.”

The Suns (44-37), who are locked into the seventh seed for the four-team Play-In Tournament, had few, if any, offensive answers in comparison with All-Star guard Devin Booker and guard Jalen Green sitting out Friday’s game.

The Suns’ 73 points scored were comfortably the fewest the Lakers have allowed this season and the fewest the Suns have scored in a game. They found even fewer responses when guard Grayson Allen exited in the second quarter grabbing at his left hamstring. He did not return after heading to the locker room.

Forward Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 12 points, one of just two Phoenix players to score in double figures as they scored just 25 points in the second half (nine in the fourth quarter). The Lakers scored 24 points off of 23 Phoenix turnovers while holding the Suns to 33.8% shooting from the field overall and 7 for 40 from 3-point range.

“Our defense was really physical outside of a couple mishaps,” Redick said. “I thought we talked pre-game a lot about just being able to execute our coverages and because they do so many different things … and I think our guys did a great job of that.”

Whereas the Suns lost a key player, Lakers guard Marcus Smart returned to the lineup on Friday, playing in his first game since March 21 when he suffered a right ankle contusion against the Orlando Magic. Playing on a minutes restriction off the bench following a nine-game absence, Smart’s defensive IQ, which helped create the team’s post-All-Star break identity, was more than evident.

In the third quarter, after Smart missed a floater in the paint, the veteran guard followed his miss and jabbed at the ball that Suns forward Ryan Dunn had collected. Smart’s attempt to force a tie-up pivoted Dunn toward backup big man Maxi Kleber, who sprawled to the floor with Dunn in a battle for the ball.

Dunn attempted to pass the ball out, but Smart jumped, tipped it and passed to Jarred Vanderbilt (six points, seven rebounds) alone in the key, who dunked to give the Lakers a 75-58 lead with 2:03 remaining in the quarter.

“That play I think was just emblematic of our effort all game long,” Redick said. “I told the team that. It’s just, that’s a hell of a play from Maxi. It’s a hell of a hell of a play from Smart.”

Smart finished with six points, seven assists, five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot in 18 minutes, helping to turn a 57-48 halftime lead into certain victory.

“Feels like so long,” Smart said as he sunk into the chair at the podium in the Lakers’ press conference room.

It had been a long while, not so much in days, but in the pure impact of how much his team’s season had changed since Kennard’s last-second shot to beat the Magic. His teammates, and coach, missed his presence.

James called Smart a “winning player.” Redick coined Smart a “wrecking ball.” Vanderbilt referred to Smart as the person who “ignites” the Lakers’ defense. And Kennard said Smart is, well, “smart” on the court. Smart added that he could see his role growing over the rest of the season – out of necessity with the lack of depth – being the “initiator” for his team on both ends of the court.

For Smart, who admitted that he has been “stressed” as he watched from the sidelines over the past three weeks, said his return to action “felt great” and that playing again Sunday would likely be in the cards.

“I’m excited about the challenge,” Smart said. “I know it doesn’t seem like we are as a team, but we are. We’re trying to figure it out, and I think that’s what makes it fun for us, right? We’re gonna have our ups, we’re going to have our downs, but, you know, we’re in it together.”

NOTES

James showed no weariness on the second night of a back-to-back set in which he scored 54 points on 63.6% shooting (21 for 33). … He recorded the 12,000th assist of his career in the first half, becoming only the fourth NBA player to reach the milestone. The milestone came less than five minutes into the game when James collected a rebound on the defensive end and threw a long chest pass to the other end. Center Deandre Ayton caught the ball over the smaller Collin Gillespie and scored. … James now has 12,010 assists. Former Utah Jazz star John Stockton is the all-time leader with 15,806. Recently retired Chris Paul (12,552) is second and Jason Kidd (12,091) is third. … The Lakers have won 15 of their past 19 games.