LeBron James, Los Angeles eliminated from playoffs by Phoenix
The Phoenix Suns have knocked off the defending champions as Chris Paul and company have bested the Los Angeles Lakers in their best-of-seven series following their 113-100 victory in Game 6 on Friday night.
In the end, the Lakers had no answer for the loss of Anthony Davis as Los Angeles found themselves facing an insurmountable lead after the All-Star big man was forced to leave the floor in the opening six minutes. While Los Angeles was faced with their own injury issues, the Suns took advantage of the situation as Devin Booker led all scorers with 47 points to ensure Phoenix would take care of their opponent in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs. This marked the first time that a team led by LeBron James had been eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
With the win, the Suns advance to face the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. Denver advanced out of their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a win on Friday night. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Phoenix’s win.
Devin Booker has been compared to Kobe Bryant for pretty much his entire career. Like many of today’s young stars, Bryant mentored Booker. Their playing styles are eerily similar and grew more so this season. Booker took the most mid-range shots of his career this season. More important by Bryant’s reckoning would be the fact that Booker made the playoffs for the first time in his career.
He happened to do so against Bryant’s former team, and on Thursday, he delivered a performance that would have made his idol proud. Booker scored 47 points, including 22 in the first quarter alone, but the variety of shots and moves that led to them were what truly stood out. Booker made 8-of-10 3-point attempts. He killed the Lakers in the mid-range. Every time they started sneaking up on the Suns, Booker nailed a dagger to remind us how big the margin in this game really was.
It was a …
