5 things we learned as another 4th-quarter erosion dooms Phoenix Suns in loss to Los Angeles Lakers

The Phoenix Suns had another fourth quarter erosion against the Los Angeles Lakers in Friday night’s 122-119 loss before a baffled sellout crowd 17,071 at Footprint Center.

The Lakers went on a 19-2 run that began with Cam Reddish’s buzzer beater to end the third quarter in their comeback win in the first game of NBA In-Season Tournament group play.

Rui Hachimura capped the surge with a two-handed flush to give the Lakers a 105-98 lead with 7:05 left after Christian Wood’s 3 forced Suns coach Frank Vogel called his second timeout during the run.

This comes two weeks after Phoenix blew a 12-point lead going into the fourth quarter of a 100-95 loss Oct. 26 in Los Angeles.

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 38 points Friday as the Suns (4-5) had their two-game win streak snapped while Bradley Beal scored 24 in his second outing with the Suns after missing first seven with back issues.

Beal scored 20 in the first half of his home regular-season debut.

LeBron James scored a team-high 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists to lead the Lakers (4-5), who were coming off a 34-point road loss to the Rockets.

Here are five things learned in the game ahead of Phoenix continuing its three-game homestand Sunday against Oklahoma City (5-4), which lost Friday night at Sacramento, 105-98.

Booker update

Devin Booker missed his fourth straight game with a right calf strain, but he got in a pregame workout just as he did before Wednesday’s overtime win over the Bulls.

The workout consisted of ball handling and shooting as Suns assistant John Lucas III put him through the rigors just as he did with Beal in his road back from injury.

Vogel said Booker is “increasing his work on the floor with his shooting, the intensity, speed and intensity of it, but still not ready yet.”

Booker could be back next week sometime as the Suns have two days between Sunday’s game against the Thunder and Wednesday’s matchup versus the Timberwolves to conclude the homestand.

One thing is clear, the Suns need him to help close out games. That’s a given, but how the rotation looks when the Big 3 play isn’t certain.

Booker usually plays the entire third quarter. Durant has been doing that in his absence. Beal started the fourth when Durant got his rest and watched the Suns fold during that 19-2 run.

Again, this is nothing new.

Phoenix shot 5-of-20 (1-of-8 from 3) in the road loss to Lakers and went 4-of-19 (2-of-10 on 3s) in the fourth of a 112-100 loss last Saturday at Philadelphia.

In-Season Tournament update

The Suns are in West Group A with the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers and Lakers.

The Jazz and Blazers and Lakers are 1-0 in group play as Utah and Portland both defeated Memphis. The Suns are 0-1 while the Grizzlies stand 0-2.

Phoenix’s next tournament game is next Friday at Utah.

The Suns have already beaten the Jazz by 20 this season at home. Should be able to top them again, especially if Booker is back by then.

Phoenix faces the Blazers at home Nov. 21 in what will be Deandre Ayton’s return. That will be a wild one at Footprint Center as Ayton didn’t play against the Suns in Portland’s preseason visit.

The Suns close out group play Nov. 24 at Memphis.

Ja Morant will still be serving his 25-game suspension. The Grizzlies are struggling without him.

So Phoenix’s next three tournament games are winnable. If the Suns come out of it 3-1, they could very well get the “wild card” out of the West to advance to the “knockout round.”.

That “wild card” team must finish second in their group.

Minus Kevin Durant

The Suns have seen this movie before.

Their offense once again went stale without Durant on the floor to start the fourth. The Lakers began the quarter with a 15-2 blast as part of that 19-2 overall run with Durant on the bench.

The shot selection can be questioned even after going 19-of-48 from 3 against the Bulls in the previous game.

Phoenix started the quarter 0-for-5 with the final three misses coming from 3 with Beal misfiring one and Jordan Goodwin blanking back-to-back ones.

Still, the Suns are getting comfortable with Durant being in iso. When he’s scoring, it looks great, but the Suns rely on it to the point the other four guys are just standing around.

He shot 3-of-5 in the fourth. The rest of the Suns went 6-of-15 as the Lakers outscored them 33-23.

Giving up five 3s during a 19-2 run can’t happen even against a team that hasn’t been able to knock them down from deep, but the Suns aren’t closing out on shooters well enough.

This isn’t the first time it’s happened. It’s a continual problem.

Beal can cook in number of ways

He found his rhythm early Friday – and kept it the entire first half instead of just for a minute.

Beal went from missing six shots in the first half of Wednesday’s game after hitting back-to-back 3s to scoring 20 points in the first half Friday on 7-of-10 shooting (2-of-2 from 3).

He got buckets not only on all three levels (2-of-2 from 3), finished over the top with a two-handed dunk, but did so off the dribble, pullup and pulled the stop-and-go blow by on Anthony Davis and Christian Wood at the buzzer to finish the half.

Beal enjoyed that so much, he did the Deion Sanders’ two-step in celebration. Looked good, but also got overzealous in trying a follow up dunk that led to taking a fall the floor and laying flat on his back.

Got up, kept playing, but he ended up with just four points in the second half on 2-of-7 shooting and committed two turnovers.

Back got a little tight. Didn’t have the same fluid movement in the second half.

Playing 32 minutes, Beal probably went over the minute restriction, but his lungs will later benefit from the extra burn.

The Suns needed him to deliver to start that fourth quarter. There are going to be times he’s out there without Booker and Durant.

The defining possession

Even after yielding that 19-2 run, Phoenix was down just two with just under two minutes left when the James started bringing the ball up the court.

Nearly a full minute went by before Reddish hit his fifth 3 to give the Lakers a five-point lead.

What happened in between?

Phoenix gave up three offensive rebounds before James found Reddish, the guy who missed a game winner against Miami two games ago.

This time he delivered, but the Suns gave a hot hand too many chances.

James got the first offensive board and that was a bad bounce as Vogel said after the game.

The second one?

Davis was in between Jusuf Nurkic and Durant, but kept the ball alive for Reddish to track down. That can’t happen. Durant or Nurkic have to come up with that.

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The third one?

Davis just outmuscled Durant. Ball bounced wide, but those tend to react opposite long and Davis had Durant sealed.

What’s the common thread on all these plays? LeBron James.

He draws so much attention. The Suns reacted to his penetration and left guys wide open for corner 3s.

There was still a minute and change left, but that possession sealed the game for the Lakers.

Have opinions about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Another fourth quarter erosion dooms Phoenix Suns in second loss to L.A. Lakers