LeBron James' LA Lakers beaten again as Phoenix Suns win, Portland Trail Blazers demolished by Oklahoma City Thunder

Los Angeles Lakers’ poor start to the season continued as they lost 127-109 to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday evening.

The Suns were helped by two players hitting more than 30 points for almost half the total tally of the team.

The focus before the match-up from coach Frank Vogel had been to fire in more three-pointers to drive home any advantages, and the players came through to earn the victory.

Bradley Beal stepped up with 37 points, with 24 of those points coming from three-pointers while Devin Booker sank 31.

Beal’s performance was especially impressive after battling back and injury problems that had reduced him to six appearances in the first 30 games of the season, but his 80% three-point ratio was impressive, adding 20 points in the third quarter to help establish a fourth-quarter lead of 32.

“I thought the whole game was a positive step in the direction of how we want to play offensively,” said Vogel after the win.

Beal added: It’s something that I’ve been trying to kick myself to do the last five years of my career, to shoot eight-to-10 3-pointers a game.

“I worked with my training group back in town and got it back feeling right. Tonight I was confident in it and once it was in my hands just making it flow.”

Booker said he was responding to encouragement from team-mate Kevin Durant, saying: “I was doing what my team-mates asked of me. Having a mate like (Durant) out there to give you that much confidence and let you rock out is huge.”.

Durant, who scored 18 points on the night, said: “As much as everybody can be aggressive without having to focus on trying to getting me or our best scorers the ball, be aggressive and just make the right play.

"The ball is going to find us. Sometimes it is good to reiterate that to your team-mates so they can go out there and have a free mind.”

LeBron James scored just 10 points alongside his nine assists and five rebounds, and after saying his team “suck” last week, he thought the Lakers were outplayed.

“I thought they were very aware of what we wanted to do, plus having their 'Big Three' helped as well,” he said.

Elsewhere on Thursday night, the Portland Trail Blazers were routed 139-77 by the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Milwaukee Bucks cruised past the Boston Celtics 135-102.

The Dallas Mavericks squeezed by the New York Knicks 128-124, while the Brooklyn Nets fell 111-102 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2024 NBA Paris Game.

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