Lakers, AD stumble out in 6 as Suns end reign

<div class="article-meta"><span class="timestamp" data-behavior="date_time" data-date="2021-06-04T05:27:00Z"><span class="time" data-dateformat="time1" data-showtimezone="true">1:27 AM ET</span></span></div> <p>LOS ANGELES — <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6583/anthony-davis">Anthony Davis</a> could barely move and the <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers">Los Angeles Lakers</a> could not move on, seeing their repeat title hopes cut short with a 113-100 loss in Game 6 of their first round series with the <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/phx/phoenix-suns">Phoenix Suns</a>.</p> <p>Davis, cleared by L.A.’s medical staff and starting on Thursday after being sidelined since halftime of Game 4 with a strained groin, never looked right. He tweaked the injury mere minutes into the first quarter and was forced to exit early.</p> <p>Even if he had been healthy, it might not have mattered with the way the Suns, led by star guard <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3136193/devin-booker">Devin Booker</a>‘s 47 points, shot the ball.</p> <aside class="inline editorial float-r" data-behavior="article_related"> <ul> <li><a name="&lpos=story:editorspicks:inline:1" href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31563066/anthony-davis-rest-los-angeles-lakers-game-6-phoenix-suns" class="img-link"><img loading="lazy" src="https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/photo/2021/0604/r862798_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center" width="65" height="65"></a></li> </ul> </aside> <p>Phoenix, after winning Game 5 by 30 points, went up by as many as 29 in the first half, picking apart a Los Angeles defense that ranked No. 1 in the league in efficiency before the playoffs.</p> <p>The second-seeded Suns, who according to the oddsmakers entered the first round as the underdogs against the seventh-seeded Lakers, took it to L.A. from the tip. <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6581/jae-crowder">Jae Crowder</a> connected on a 3 on the Suns’ first possession and lifted his index finger to his lips, suggesting the crowd pipe down.</p> <p>From there, Phoenix kept making noise on the offensive end, hitting its next three 3s — two more by Crowder and another by Booker — to go up nine in the blink of an eye.</p> <p>While the Suns got hot, Davis looked shot. On an early cut to the hoop, with <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3032979/dennis-schroder">Dennis Schroder</a> finding him with an entry pass, the big man winced, shook his head and grabbed at the inside of his left leg after catching the ball.</p> <p>Not long after, his night was finished after he contested a Booker drive to the hoop just 5:08 into the game and was unable to get back down the floor on offense, hunching over in pain. He made his way toward the Lakers’ bench and, after a <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2581018/kentavious-caldwell-pope">Kentavious Caldwell-Pope</a> foul 27 seconds later, took himself out, plopped down on the sideline and dropped his head, his season over.</p> <p>The Suns were up 36-14 after the first quarter, shooting 13-for-19 as a team (10-for-13 from 3) compared with L.A.’s 6-for-21 mark (2-for-8 from 3).</p> <p>The defending champs, led by <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/1966/lebron-james">LeBron James</a> — who finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 41 minutes — still managed to make it interesting.</p> <p>When Caldwell-Pope scored a putback to cut it to 10 with 8 minutes, 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter, it was the closest the Lakers had been since there were four minutes, 51 seconds remaining in the first.</p> <p>Phoenix followed with a 7-0 run, capped by a <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2779/chris-paul">Chris Paul</a> jumper, prompting the Phoenix point guard to talk trash, sensing the franchise’s first playoff series win since 2010 was in hand.</p> <p>L.A. once again cut it to 11 with a Schroder 3 with 4 minutes on the clock, but never was able to get within single digits.</p> <p>In a way, the Suns series — in which the Lakers went up 2-1, only to lose the next three games — mirrored how the regular season went for L.A. The Lakers raced off to a 21-6 start before Davis, already struggling with Achilles tendinosis in his right leg, suffered a calf cramp against Denver on Valentine’s Day. He’d go on to miss the Lakers’ next 30 games.</p> <p>In the playoffs, it was Davis’ left leg that let him down, first suffering a knee sprain in Game 3 and then a groin strain in Game 4 that cost him the rest of the series.</p> <p>James, who pulled off something unprecedented in league history last season — becoming the first player ever to win a Finals MVP with three different franchises — ended his 2020-21 season with some personal history.</p> <p>It was the first time in his career, in 15 trips to the first round, that he lost.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://patabook.com/sports/2021/06/04/lakers-ad-stumble-out-in-6-as-suns-end-reign/">Lakers, AD stumble out in 6 as Suns end reign</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://patabook.com/sports">Patabook Sports</a>.</p>

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