Los Angeles Lakers vs Phoenix Suns Box Score on Oct 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 21, 2017

PHOENIX -- Lonzo Ball had 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in his second NBA game, and he scored six straight points late in the fourth quarter to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 132-130 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday.

Ball made only one shot and scored three points in his NBA debut on Wednesday, a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. But Ball turned it on Friday, shooting 12 of 27 from the field and barely missing his first triple-double.

T.J. Warren had a chance to tie the game with 1.2 seconds left and the Suns down by two. But he missed the first free throw and purposely missed the second, grabbing his own rebound but shoting an air ball as time expired.

The Lakers led by 12 points in the fourth quarter before the Suns pulled within 122-119 on a Tyson Chandler tip-in with 3:22 left. But Ball scored the next three Laker baskets, all on drives to the hoop. The third basket put the Lakers up 130-122 with 1:35 left, but Los Angeles still had to hold on for the win.

The Suns roared back and got as close as 131-130 on a Devin Booker 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds left. Brandon Ingram made one of two free throws with 1.2 seconds left, giving Warren and the Suns one more chance.

Ingram scored 25 points and Brook Lopez had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers.

Eric Bledsoe scored 28 points and Booker had 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Suns. Warren added 24 for Phoenix, who scored just 76 points in a humiliating 48-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday but nearly matched that total in the first half by taking a 73-70 lead at the break.

But the Lakers controlled the third quarter, forcing eight Phoenix turnovers and using a 9-0 run to go up 90-83 on an Ingram 3-pointer with 4:49 left.

NOTES: Lakers F Luol Deng, who started and played 13 minutes in the 108-92 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, was inactive Friday. Corey Brewer started in his place. ... The Lakers were without G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who served the second game of his two-game NBA suspension. ... Suns C Alex Len, who missed Wednesday's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers with a sprained left ankle, made his season debut. ... The game featured the NBA's two youngest coaches in Luke Walton of the Lakers (37) and Earl Watson of the Suns (38) and two of the youngest rosters. Phoenix's average player age is 24.5 and the Los Angeles averages 24.8.