
The Phoenix Suns' emphatic win over the Los Angeles Lakers highlighted everything Jordan Ott's team hopes they could be.
Phoenix moved the ball, shot it well, played strong defense and ultimately one of their most cohesive performances of the early season in their ultimate 132-108 victory, which marked their highest scoring output of in regulation this year.
"Definitely a great night for that, felt it early. Book's (Devin Booker) ability to create a close out just by his presence on the floor, he was able to get into the paint, he lived in close outs. It is what we want to do, create an advantage, put them in close outs. That leads to 35 assists," Ott said following the win.
Booker tallied just his fifth double-double of the year with 11 assists and 21 points.
“We always have room to grow. It's a first-year team together. We've been in a lot of dog fights this year. We've come back from down 20 and we've given up 20-point leads. That's our motto, get better every day," Booker said as the Suns improved to 16-13 on the season.
"We talk on and off the court. The vibes are always high. I always take it back to the beginning of the season, when we started off 1-4. We were still coming in with the mindset to get better. Then we ran off a few games, and we've been in every other game since then. So now we’ve got to string some together. We're about to hit the road. It's going to be just us, and we're looking forward to it.”
Suns center Mark Williams said the organization learned plenty of lessons from their last encounter with Los Angeles, which resulted in a close Lakers win.
“I think we learned a lot from that last game. We got out-rebounded. They won the possession game. That's usually stuff we try to pride ourselves on and do well," Williams said post-game.
"So, I think tonight we really focused on that. Got back to what we do, playing fast, playing hard, playing in transition, took care of the ball, and I think the results took care of themselves. We forced them into a lot more turnovers. Just do what we do.”
Phoenix now embarks on a four-game road trip to conclude the 2025 calander year, beginning in New Orleans on Friday.
More must-reads:
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!