NBA-Leading Suns Rout Lakers, 140-111; James Reaches 10,000 Assists
PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 30 points, Deandre Ayton had 23 points and 16 rebounds and the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns routed the Los Angeles Lakers 140-111 on Sunday night.
LeBron James led the Lakers, who have lost 10 straight road games, with 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He did not play in the fourth quarter.
James reached a milestone with his 10,000th career assist in the second quarter on Carmelo Anthony's 3-pointer. James in the only player in NBA history with at least 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists.
Booker also had 10 assists and four steals. Mikal Bridges added 18 points to help Phoenix move 50 games over .500 at 54-14.
The Suns broke it open in the first five minutes. They went on a 14-0 run — punctuated by back-to-back 27-foot 3-pointers by Booker — to take a 16-6 lead, and kept pouring it on.
Phoenix led 48-22 after the first quarter, the Suns' highest output in a quarter this season and the most the Lakers have given up in a quarter in the shot-clock era.
Phoenix had 14 assists and no turnovers in the quarter and was 7 of 12 from 3-point range. The Lakers had seven turnovers and were 1 of 10 on 3-point attempts.
The had a season-high 79 points at the half for a 23-point lead.
TIP-INS
Lakers: F Anthony Davis, who has been sidelined since Feb. 16 with a foot sprain, will begin on-court work and spot shooting Monday, coach Frank Vogel said. It's uncertain when Davis will ramp up his activity. Vogel called his return sometime this season a "100% maybe." ... Davis said before the game that the Lakers would have beaten the Suns in the playoffs last season had he not been sidelined with a groin injury. "We know that. They know that … They got away with one," Davis said.
Suns: F Cam Johnson missed his fifth straight game with a right quad contusion ... Danish guard Gabriel Lundburg, signed to a two-way contract, will not report to the Suns for two weeks because of visa issues ... Phoenix has beaten every NBA team at least once this season, the first time that's happened since 2006-07.
IT'S LEBRON
Suns coach Monty Williams was asked before the game if he was surprised that James, at the age of 37 had scored 50 points or more in two of the last three Lakers' games.
"Scoring 25 points in an NBA game is hard. Ask anybody who hasn't done it," Williams said. "To do what he's done the last few games, I don't even think about his age anymore. He doesn't look like he's closing in on 40. He just looks like LeBron James."
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