The NBA’s defending champions won’t make the second round of this season’s playoffs, and it’s the first time LeBron James (14-1) has ever lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-100 in Game 6 on Thursday night at Staples Center to win the first-round series 4-2. It’s the first playoff series win for Phoenix since they advanced to the conference finals in the 2009-10 season.
Devin Booker lit up the Lakers’ defense for 47 points on 15-of-22 shooting from the field (8-of-10 on threes) and 9-of-9 at the charity stripe. The 24-year-old shooting guard also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The main storyline entering this game — aside from the Lakers on the verge of elimination, of course — was Los Angeles superstar Anthony Davis playing despite a groin injury that forced him to miss Game 5. And after playing just five minutes (and clearly not looking right), he left Game 6 with the same injury.
Without a healthy Davis for Games 5 and 6 (and for only 19 minutes of Game 4), these of course weren’t the juggernaut Lakers we’re used to seeing.
But this series was still a very disappointing showing from the defending champions, who entered Game 6 as a three-point favorite.
For the Suns, what a performance- and they’re a very dangerous team in an up-for-grabs Western Conference. With the Lakers out, and the Los Angeles Clippers down 3-2 to the Dallas Mavericks, the Suns may have as much star power as anybody left in the West playoff bracket. And star power — to go with smarts and the veteran savvy from players like Chris Paul — can take you a long way in the NBA playoffs.
The Suns face the Denver Nuggets in the second round, in what should be a highly entertaining series. Game 1 is Monday night in Phoenix at 10:00 p.m. ET on TNT.