The NBA’s defending champion Los Angeles Lakers had a shocking defeat on Thursday by the Phoenix Suns, eliminating them from the championship.
In the 6th game of the first-round series; the Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns by 113-100 bringing an end to the winning streak of LeBron James.
LeBron James has been on a one-of-a-kind record; 14-0 playoff appearances by a player while representing the Lakers, Miami Heat, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This was the first game in which the Lakers lost in a first-round series after entering at game 6. James had never faced this situation before in his career. This is the first time James is in a team that has lost back-to-back games in an opening round of the championship. The Lakers were in a stable position up to 2-1 before the series started but they lost three games constantly.
LeBron James has been chasing world records one after another. Just last year; James had set a league record for most postseason games played by a single player. He has only missed the playoffs three times in his entire career in the NBA since 2003. He has played in the NBA finals 10 times.
Apart from James LeBron, the Lakers are also disappointed about losing the game and being eliminated at such an early stage of the series. The fact is that injuries have played a lethal role in this early elimination of the team. The Lakers have been facing injuries all through the season even the star players like James LeBron and Anthony Davis missed out on the crucial time of play because of injuries.
The Lakers were in seventh place in the Western Conference after defeating the Golden Gate Warriors in a one-off play-in game, thankfully after LeBron hit the winning shot and landed the team in a comfortable position.
On the other hand, this will be the first time that the Phoenix Suns will appear in the playoffs since 2010. They have advanced to the second round and will play against the Denver nuggets in the best-of-seven matchup.
Phoenix Suns, took over an early lead over Lakers thanks to its star players Devin Booker and Chris Paul. They controlled the game from the very beginning stretching the lead to a comfortable 36-14 by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, the gap had been extended to 62-41 and the Lakers never came back from behind. In the fourth quarter, LeBron’s team did show some aggression by scoring a few pointers but by that time it was too late and Phoenix eventually clinched the win. The Phoenix Suns sent LeBron back to the locker room early as they dismantled the rest of the team to blow the Lakers out of the NBA first-round series.
