Phoenix Suns 0-3 vs. Los Angeles Lakers after controversial NBA In-Season Tournament loss

LOS ANGELES – The Phoenix Suns nearly overcame turnovers, offensive rebounds, fouls and no timeouts, but in the end, couldn't beat the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kevin Durant missed a desperation 3 at the buzzer to conclude a wild 106-103 loss in the NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals game Tuesday night before 18,644 fans at Crypto.com Arena.

Phoenix now is 0-3 against the Lakers this season with two losses coming in the tournament.

The Lakers play New Orleans in the second semifinals game Thursday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Pacers will face the Bucks in the first semifinal matchup that day. The tournament championship game is Dec. 9 in Las Vegas.

The Suns trailed by two with 11.2 seconds left Tuesday when they appeared to force a turnover as Devin Booker and Kevin Durant trapped Austin Reaves, who lost the ball that Grayson Allen looked to save on the baseline.

However, the Lakers were granted a timeout as LeBron James was standing with the timeout signal in front of their bench.

After the Lakers couldn’t get the ball inbounds, they called their final timeout, moved the ball to midcourt and James found Anthony Davis, who was being guarded by much shorter Eric Gordon.

Davis made the first free throw with 6.6 seconds remaining, but he missed the second to finish 7-of-8 from the line. Booker rebounded the miss, hit it ahead to Durant, who got a decent look, but airballed a 3 at the buzzer to end Phoenix’s chances to advance in the In-Season Tournament.

Durant paced the Suns (12-9) with 31 points while Allen and Booker each scored 21.

Booker and Durant each ended the game with five fouls. This was the first time Booker was available for the matchup as he missed the two previous games with injuries.

James matched Durant with 31 points to go along with 11 assists to lead the Lakers (13-9).

Davis posted 27 points and 15 rebounds and Reaves added 20 off the bench that included a dagger 3 to put Los Angeles up 105-101 with 15.3 seconds left.

The Suns have two more scheduled games against the Lakers, on Jan. 11 in Los Angeles and Feb. 25 in Phoenix. Here is what we learned from Tuesday’s game:

What's next for losing team

The Suns will host Sacramento Dec. 8 at Footprint Center. The Kings lost Monday at home to the Pelicans in the tournament quarterfinals.

Each player from the tournament championship team is awarded $500,000 while players from the runner-up squad each get $200,000. Players from the semifinal losers will receive $100,000 each while each player on the teams that falls in the quarterfinals, as the Suns did, are given $50,000.

Even though most NBA players have made millions of dollars, there is a huge cash prize differential for those who reach the semifinals and finals to those who don’t.

The controversial play

Before addressing what happened, here’s crew chief Josh Tiven’s explanation of the Lakers getting a timeout to maintain possession when Reaves lost the ball.

“During live play the official felt that LA still had possession of the ball when LeBron James requested the timeout. Through postgame video review in slow motion replay, we did see that Austin Reaves had his left hand on the ball while it’s pinned against his left leg, which does constitute control.”

Tiven later said James called the timeout. Can’t debate James calling the timeout, but did he call it before Reaves lost the ball?

The answer will be debated for days, but there was far more to the play than that.

One, did Booker foul Reaves from behind? It appears Booker bumped him, but he did pull his hands back and the whistle wasn’t blown.

Second, did Reaves have possession when James called the timeout or lose it before under the Booker-Durant trap? This is very close.

The ball looks loose behind Reaves, but James is signaling timeout at the time. After watching it a few times, James appeared to call the timeout before Reaves lost the ball.

There’s one official with a direct view of the trap and one up top right by the scores table who is in front of the Lakers bench who saw James calling a timeout.

Third, was it a kickball? Don't think so.

Fourth, Suns coach Frank Vogel is calling for the replay to review for an inadvertent whistle so the play could be reviewed. Sounds good in theory, but that’s reaching.

Fifth, should each play under 24 seconds should be reviewed regardless? Probably so.

Suns hurt themselves more than anything

The numbers don’t lie.

The Suns turned the ball over 22 times, leading to 25 Lakers points.

Booker had seven turnovers with four coming in the first quarter while Durant tallied five for the game. That can’t happen.

Jarred Vanderbilt showed his defensive value early as he guarded Durant and Booker. Cam Reddish took a turn as did Taurean Prince, but all three have the human eraser back there in Davis..

The dude is so unique in that he can show on screen and roll, get back and make a play. He covers up mistakes.

The Lakers have size and length on the perimeter to guard Durant and Booker either solo or to recover. They're won the physical battle on so many different levels, such as offensive rebounds, dribble penetration and on defense.

Booker shot just 6-of-16 from the field. Part of that is due to the Lakers defense.

Phoenix must figure out a way to combat that or else come up short against the Lakers again.

The Suns shot 49.3% from the field overall, 12-of-25 from 3.

Imagine what that percentage would’ve been had they gotten up a shot on, say, six more possessions that ended in turnovers?

The Suns allowed 21 offensive rebounds leading to 19 Lakers' points as Davis grabbed nine offensive boards. That factored in Los Angeles taking 102 shots from the field to Phoenix’s 75.

That can’t happen, either.

This is how the Lakers can win despite shooting under 40% from the field (37.3%) overall and go 9-of-30 from 3.

The fact that the Suns found a way to get back in the game when considering those numbers and how they fell behind by 15 points in the first half is a testament to their character.

That 14-0 run to start the second half to quickly erase a12-point halftime deficit was impressive as Allen scored eight of his 21 points in that run.

However, they were careless with the ball and couldn’t keep Davis and the Lakers off the offensive glass.

Anthony Davis is a problem for Phoenix

James put his foot into that fourth quarter with 15 points in the game’s final 12 minutes.

He and Reaves closed the game, but the Suns have no answer for Davis. The Lakers big man is averaging 25 points and 12.6 rebounds in three games against the Suns, all Phoenix losses.

Deandre Ayton couldn’t handle him. Jusuf Nurkic hasn’t shown he can, either.

Nurkic not only scored just three points, but he took just three shots. He has to be more aggressive if nothing else to get Davis in some sort of foul trouble. Davis played 39 minutes and only committed one foul.

The Suns must figure out a way to limit him or they’re going to continue to struggle against the Lakers.

Bradley Beal closer to returning

Sources informed The Republic that Beal is in final stages of preparing to return. The new Suns guard had a pregame workout Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena that lasted at least 20 minutes.

He looked fluid, went through the drills with pace and worked himself to fatigue and kept going. Looked like a ramp up session. Felt like one, too.

John Lucas III pushed Beal – and he responded well. Beal is in third and final week of a three-week rehab for his lower back. He’s only played in three games, hasn’t seen action since Nov. 12.

Aside from Beal, Damion Lee remains out. He hasn't played this season due to a knee injury.

Durant injured his left ankle in the fourth quarter, but he played through it Tuesday night. Booker is returning from a right ankle sprain and Gordon only missed one game with a right knee contusion.

If Beal comes back in say the next week or two, and everyone else stays healthy, the Suns may start to finally see what they can be.

Right now, even with Booker, they don’t have enough to beat the Lakers.

Have opinions about the 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: Phoenix Suns upset with controversial finish to NBA In-Season Tournament elimination