marcus smart

PHOENIX — Two nights after losing to the Orlando Magic in a heartbreaker, the Lakers focused on trying to beat a Phoenix Suns team missing 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, the Suns coming up with the clutch shot on Royce O’Neale‘s three with nine-tenths of a second left to send the Lakers to their third consecutive loss Thursday night.

On the final play, Marcus Smart inbounded the ball and LeBron James and Maxi Kleber set a double-screen to get Reaves open. Reaves floated to the corner and took 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 built a 12-point lead with 6:28 left. The Lakers quickly recovered and tied the score on a Reaves three-pointer with one minute left. O’Neale scored on an offensive rebound to give the Suns a 110-108 lead before James scored on a put-back to tie the score.

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

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

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

When the Lakers went up by three early in the fourth, things looked good. But then the Suns went on a 13-3 run.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was forced to call a timeout after Oso Ighodaro rolled in for an uncontested dunk, putting the Lakers down 96-86 with 7:43 left.

The Lakers went down by 10 points in the second quarter, but took a two-point lead late in the quarter on a Reaves three-pointer. 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 entering the fourth.

Allen carried the Suns in the third, scoring 16 points. He missed just one of his shots and just one of his five three-pointers in the third.

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

The Lakers lost to Orlando on Tuesday by one point on a botched play when Doncic didn’t shoot a three-pointer and instead passed the ball to James, who missed a last-second three-point attempt.

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 is easy to move on after a tough loss.

“Well, I think that’s not in general,” Redick said. “I think there are specific times throughout the season where you talk about what just happened, more than just your normal review. You’re not going to do that after every game. So, we had a great practice and meeting on Monday after the Boston game and you don’t need to belabor every single loss.”

ETC.

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura didn’t play against the Suns because of an illness, the team said. But backup center Jaxson Hayes, who missed the last game with right ankle soreness, played 21 minutes against the Suns, finishing with eight points and three rebounds.

Even with essentially his entire starting lineup unavailable because of injuries, Lakers coach JJ Redick still looked forward to competing against a worthy opponent in the San Antonio Spurs.

Even facing a Spurs team with the second-best record in the Western Conference without LeBron James (left foot arthritis), Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain), Austin Reaves (left calf injury), Marcus Smart (right ankle) and Deandre Ayton (right knee soreness), Redick still wanted his group to compete at a high level.

It’s just that Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama competed at a level the Lakers were unable to reach, the 7-foot-4 center dominating with his season-high-tying 40 points to go along with 12 rebounds in just 26 minutes during San Antonio’s easy 136-108 win Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Wembanyama had 25 points in the first quarter alone and 37 by halftime.

“I know right now we have to contend with him and he’s one of the five best players in the world,” Redick said. “He’s put that stamp on himself. It’s more than counting the stats with him, because there is such an avoidance of him defensively and there is an awareness you have from him defensively.”

Luke Kennard had 14 points and five assists, Drew Timme had 14 points and Bronny James had 12 points and six assists for the Lakers (32-21).

For LeBron James, missing the game meant the Lakers’ All-Star became ineligible for NBA postseason awards, ending his streak of making the All-NBA team at 21 seasons. The league’s threshold to be eligible for postseason awards is 65 games. The most James can reach is 64 if he does not sit out another game.

James, playing in his NBA-record 23rd season, missed the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica, making it difficult to meet the threshold.

Redick said James has been “dealing with the history of injuries he’s had and to start the year.”

“Just depends on how he wakes up the next day and as he goes through his treatment in the morning,” Redick added. “But we ruled him out.”

Doncic missed his third straight game with his injury. The Lakers next play Thursday night here against the Mavericks, Doncic’s former team. Redick said Doncic was listed as “day to day” when asked if his All-Star would play against the Mavericks.

Doncic, the leading-vote getter for Sunday’s All-Star Game, has been working out and playing some five-on-five action to get ready.

“Luka continues to progress,” Redick said.

Before playing in the last four games, Reaves had missed the previous 19 with his calf injury.

Redick said Reaves “was coming back from a tissue injury” and was “only going to play in one of these games.”

Lakers forward Drew Timme tries to fend off Spurs guard Dylan Harper in the first half.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Redick said Smart tweaked his ankle in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game and had a “pretty high level of soreness” when he woke up Tuesday.

Ayton had been listed as questionable and was being called a game-time decision before the game because Redick said Ayton is dealing with “his knee again.”

So, it was left up to the rest of the healthy Lakers to deal with Wembanyama and the Spurs.

The Lakers lost on Monday night to the Thunder, the defending NBA champions, who also have the best record in the league, and then had this back-to-back game against the tough Spurs.

“He makes me feel like a normal size dude,” Timme, who is 6-0, said laughing. “It’s crazy. But I mean, it’s that size, coordination and athleticism, it’s crazy. I mean, he’s really one of a kind. What they call him, the ‘Alien?’ Like, he’s a really good player. A lot of times people are like, ‘Well, if I had that height or if I had that…’ I mean, he has that but he also has the skill. I mean, he’s a really skilled, talented player and I think that’s why he’s so good. There’s a lot of tall players that can’t do that and I think that’s what really separates him.”