Bradley Beal had a season-high 37 points, including eight 3-pointers, Devin Booker added 31 and the Phoenix Suns routed the Los Angeles Lakers 127-109 on Thursday night.
Kevin Durant added 18 points for the Suns, who broke a five-game losing streak to the Lakers. It was also Frank Vogel's first victory over his former team. Vogel coached the Lakers for three seasons, including 2020 when they won the NBA title in the Walt Disney World bubble.
D’Angelo Russell had 19 points off the bench as the Lakers fell to 5-11 since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament last month. Los Angeles had seven players score in double figures but committed 17 turnovers that led to 28 Phoenix points.
Beal scored 20 points in the third quarter and the Suns' largest lead was 32 early in the fourth. He was one off tying the Suns’ single-game record for 3-pointers shared by six players.
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LeBron James had 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting along with nine assists and five rebounds. Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves scored 13 points apiece. All three players did not see action during the fourth quarter as the Lakers trailed by 27 after three.
The Lakers had won two in a row but fell back below .500 at 19-20.
Cam Reddish was in the starting lineup but did not play in the second half due to knee soreness.
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It was Booker's 10th 30-point game this season. He had 16 points in the first quarter as the Suns had an 11-point advantage.
A fadeway by James gave the Lakers a 7-6 lead before the Suns grabbed control. Booker's 19-foot jumper started an 11-2 run that put Phoenix up by eight less than four minutes into the game.
Another jumper by Booker gave the Suns a 32-15 advantage with two minutes remaining in the first quarter before the Lakers made a late spurt to get within 36-25 at the end of the period.
Los Angeles kept whittling away at the start of the second quarter. Jerod Vanderbilt's 3-pointer cut it to 40-34 but that would be the closest they would get the rest of the way as Phoenix countered with seven straight points as part of a 10-2 run.
Josh Okogie finished off the spurt with a driving dunk while being fouled by Jaxson Hayes. Okogie finished the three-point play with a free throw to make it 50-36 with 7:44 remaining in the first half.
UP NEXT
Suns: At Portland on Sunday.
Lakers: Travel to Utah on Saturday.
