Luka Doncic and Lakers lose third straight on Royce O’Neale’s three

PHOENIX — Two nights after losing to the Orlando Magic in a decisive game, the Lakers focused on trying to beat a Phoenix Suns team lacking key players.

In the end, the result was the same: disappointment.

The Lakers lost 113-110 after Austin Reaves missed a three-pointer as time expired, with the Suns hitting Royce O’Neale’s clutch three-pointer with nine-tenths of a second left to send the Lakers to their third straight loss Thursday night.

On the final play, Marcus Smart inbounded the ball and LeBron James and Maxi Kleber set up a double screen to open Reaves. Reaves floated to the corner and made a cross-court pass, but his shot bounced off the rim, sending the Lakers to another loss despite Luka Doncic’s 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair before the Suns took a 12-point lead with 6:28 to play. The Lakers quickly recovered and tied the score on a three-pointer from Reaves with a minute remaining. O’Neale scored on an offensive rebound to give the Suns a 110-108 lead before James scored on a putback to tie the score.

The Suns then called a timeout to set up O’Neale’s game-winning shot.

Phoenix, which had lost six of eight, played without All-Star guard Devin Booker (sprained right hip), Dillon Brooks (fractured left hand) and Jordan Goodwin (sprained left calf).

Still, the Lakers (34-24) knew the Suns (34-26) would play hard and shoot a lot of three-pointers — Phoenix shot 22 for 50 from three-point range.

The Lakers were down by 10 in the second but took a two-point lead late in the quarter on a three-pointer from Reaves. But Grayson Allen scored on a layup to tie the score 49-49 at halftime.

The Lakers opened a 13-point lead in the third quarter but ended up tied 80-80 early in the fourth.

Allen carried the Suns into the third, scoring 16 of his team’s 28 points. He missed just one shot in the quarter and made four three-pointers.

When the Lakers went up by three points early in the fourth quarter, things looked good. But then the Suns went 13-0.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was forced to call a timeout after Oso Ighodaro completed an uncontested dunk, putting the Lakers up 96-86 with 7:43 remaining.

The Lakers fought back to tie the score, fueled by straight threes from Doncic. But the Suns proved to be the superior team in depth. The Lakers made just 11 of 29 threes.

James finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. Reaves scored 14 points and Smart 13.

The Lakers were coming off a one-point loss to Orlando on Tuesday, with the game ending on a sloppy play when Doncic didn’t shoot an open three-pointer and instead passed the ball to James, who missed a rushing three-pointer at the last second.

It was a tough way for the Lakers to end their eight-game homestand, going 4-4 ​​over that stretch.

Redick was asked if it was easy to move on after a tough loss.

“Not usually,” Redick said before the game. “I think there are specific times throughout the season where you talk about what just happened, more than just your usual debrief. You’re not going to do that after every game. So we had a great practice and a great meeting Monday after the Boston game and you don’t need to dwell on every loss.”

Remarks

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura did not play due to illness, the team said. But backup center Jaxson Hayes, who missed the previous game with right ankle soreness, played 21 minutes, finishing with eight points and three rebounds.