On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 112-93, to extend their winning streak for three games and claim the team's 11th victory in its last 15 games. Brandon Ingram finished as the team's leading scorer with 26 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds to give the Lakers their seventh straight home victory.
"It's been impressive, just watching him learn as he goes," Lakers center Brook Lopez said about Ingram playing point guard the past three games. "It's been great. The transition has been surprisingly seemless and smooth. He's such a talented player, and he has such an unselfish mentality."
In the first quarter, Julius Randle, Josh Hart and Lopez got the team off to a fast start, with Lopez and Hart both making a couple three-pointers early and jump starting the game. At the end of the quarter, rookie Kyle Kuzma got off the bench and immediately added five points before the first 12 minutes elapsed.
The Lakers would have likely led by more had Josh Gray, who is on a 10-day contract with the Phoenix Suns, not entered the game and notched eight points in five first quarter mintues.
Conseqently, the Lakers took a five-point lead into the second quarter.
Suns forward T.J. Warren came to life in that second stanza by scoring 10 points in the second period and increasing his tally to 17 points before the intermission. Ingram joined in the scoring flurry for the Lakers, as the 20-year-old increased his scoring tally to 10 points by halftime, to go along with four assists and a rebound.
The Suns and Lakers were knotted at 57-57 at the break, and Phoenix was hanging around by pushing LA around down low.
The Lakers started the contest by making eight of their 15 three-pointers and hitting 20 of their 40 first half field goals attempts over all, so shooting clearly wasn't the issue. The Suns managed 14 assists on 23 made field goals in the first half, so the ball was moving for the visitors. Though the Lakers shot a better percentage than the Suns in the first half, Phoenix dominated the glass with 12 offensive rebounds and outscored the Lakers 14-6 in second chance points.
In the third quarter, the Lakers came out with a new toughness, but the two teams continued to battle back and forth with neither team able to taste a double-digit lead at any point during the first three quarters.
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Warren continued his hot shooting and reached a game-high 24 points through three quarters, but he was one of only two Suns' players to touch double figures in points through three quarters. Rookie Josh Jackson was the other Suns' player to hit that mark, and he only sat on 10 points after three quarters.
Meanwhile, the Lakers already had five different players hit double-figures in points through 36 minutes, with Ingram leading the way and notching 22 points on 9-11 shooting through three quarters. Ingram scored 12 points in the third quarter alone, which was more than any Suns' player, with the exception of Warren, at that stage.
Ingram drives through the lane and drops the hammer! #LakeShow (��: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/DqrspoyEtB— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 7, 2018
The kid from Kinston, North Carolina also had five assists and four rebounds at that point and played a starring role in helping the Lakers take a nine-point lead entering the final dozen minutes.
Kyle Kuzma throws down another big slam for the Lakers! #LakeShow (��: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/4ty2l57B8x— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 7, 2018
In the first half of the fourth quarter, the Lakers' second unit brought the arena to life and also finally provided the Lakers their first double-digit lead of the evening. At the midway point of the fourth quarter, the Lakers led by 12 points.
Down the stretch, the Lakers went with a lineup of Ingram, Randle, Kuzma, Hart and Jordan Clarkson. By the time the game wound down to four minutes remaining, the Lakers held a 13-point lead and only needed to avoid an epic collapse to claim victory at home.
That collapse was not forthcoming.
By the three-minute mark, the Lakers led by 15 and that lead would continue to grow. With 60 seconds on the clock, the Lakers led by 19 points, and Lakers coach Luke Walton looked to the end of his bench to finish the game.
That difference would hold, and the Lakers claimed their 22nd win of the season, meaning the team had doubled its season win total in the past 15 games. The three-game winning streak coincided with Hart grabbing his third straight double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
During his interview after the game, Hart was interupted by Clarkson yelling out, "Josh Barkley" in reference to Charles Barkley, the undersized Hall of Fame forward nicknamed "The round mound of rebound."
"We call him Charles Barkley," Randle said about Hart after the game. "He's great, especially from that guard position, then coming in and helping the bigs get boards. He's huge for us."
Kuzma went one step further and said that Hart should be starting the remainder of the year.
Next, the Lakers play their final home game before the All Star break against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. LA beat the same Thunder team in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
