Despite a career-high 39 points from Devin Booker, the Los Angeles Lakers held off the visiting Phoenix Suns 119-108 Sunday night.
It was the second consecutive impressive win for these young Lakers, who stunned the Golden State Warriors two nights prior.
Booker was coming off a 38-point performance against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Per the LA Times:
“They’re more mature than I think a lot of people would guess or give them credit for,” Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. “. . . We had a big lead after the first quarter because of the way we defended. That shows that these guys want to win, they’re engaged.
“I don’t have expectations. I came into this job with an open mind. They’ve proven, they haven’t shown me anything to say that they’re immature other than the age of a lot of them. They’ve come to work every single day since we’ve been here, even before training camp. Their actions speak loud. They’re grown men that are in this to get better and to be as good as they can.”
Nick Young led the Lakers with 22 points and seven rebounds. He was also tasked with cooling off Suns guard Devin Booker, who caught fire late in the fourth quarter. Booker finished the game with 39 points — 29 in the second half. He helped the Suns make a late push that had them within one point with five minutes to play.
