The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night in the second of their two preseason games at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers will play a total of six preseason games.

This marked the debut of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, giving the Lakers their full starting lineup for the first time. The Suns also had their entire lineup available outside of center Jusuf Nurkic, who is dealing with a thumb injury.

While the Lakers regulars built a nice lead in their minutes, the young guys at the end of the bench ultimately couldn’t close the deficit as the Suns came away with a 118-114 victory.

Davis got off to a fast start when he caught a lob from Austin Reaves and then connected on a 3-pointer. Davis then found D’Angelo Russell for a layup to give the Lakers an early 11-7 lead.

Reaves brought the sauce with a nice dish to Max Christie for a dunk and then a three-point play of his own. James then went downhill, ending a great first quarter for the Lakers as they led the Suns 34-25.

To start the second quarter, LeBron and his son Bronny James made history as the first father-son duo to share the floor together in an NBA game. Bronny played four minutes and did not score before Lakers coach JJ Redick returned to his normal rotation of players.

However, LeBron stayed hot to end the half with a pair of triples and a lob to Davis. James had 19 at the break, Davis had 17 and Russell had 12, giving the Lakers a 69-57 lead.

As expected, the stars aligned for both teams after the first half, with Christie and Jaxson Hayes starting in place of James and Davis.

Reaves and Russell held the lead for the Lakers for most of the third quarter, keeping the lead around double digits. Cam Reddish scored his first run of the preseason in the third quarter after dealing with ankle soreness, scoring a 3-pointer in four minutes of action.

The Suns started chipping away at the Lakers reserves to end the third, but Gabe Vincent scored a 3 at the buzzer to put LA up 92-85.

With reserves, two-way players and G Leaguers closing out the game for both teams, the Lakers squandered their lead in the final minutes.

However, Christie was still there for the Lakers and made back-to-back 3s to put themselves in double figures. However, the Suns’ reserves closed better than the Lakers’ and secured the victory for Phoenix.

What’s next for Lakers?

The Lakers now hit the road and will take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, with the second game in Las Vegas.

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