LOS ANGELES – Each time Anthony Davis sprawled to the ground after a tough foul or a difficult finish, he felt the cheers of about 7,000 frenzied Los Angeles Lakers fans lifting him back up.
The big man can't wait until a full Staples Center has got his back. In the meantime, his Lakers intend to keep pushing their way past the Phoenix Suns, who pushed back too late — and a bit too zealously — in Game 3.
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Davis had 34 points and 11 rebounds, LeBron James added 21 points and nine assist and Los Angeles celebrated its first home playoff game in more than eight years with a 109-95 victory over Phoenix on Thursday night.
Dennis Schröder added 20 points and the seventh-seeded defending NBA champs took a 2-1 lead with their second straight victory in the first-round series — and the first postseason game for this championship core in front of its home crowd.
“It was good for us, good for our team,” Davis said of the cheers. “We just can only imagine how it will be when it’s 20,000 in here. It was still loud, still electric. When we’re able to get the whole stadium in here, the whole fans screaming and yelling, I know it’s going to be even better.”
Buoyed by both their fans and Davis' second straight stellar game, the Lakers pulled away from erratic Phoenix in the second half again, much to their fans' enjoyment.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” James said. “It was a special night, and we just tried to reward our fans for the loyalty they have for us, and just try to play the game the right way.”
A fierce late rally by the Suns came up short — and when it did, Phoenix came unglued. Devin Booker and Jae Crowder both were sent to the locker room early, with Booker tossed for a flagrant foul on a two-handed push to an airborne Schröder that Davis called “a dirty play.”
Game 4 is Sunday in Los Angeles.
Several thousand masked fans watched inside Staples Center as the Lakers hosted their first playoff game in their downtown arena since April 28, 2013. Los Angeles won its 17th title in the Florida bubble last October, and the legions of fans confined to watching their beloved team’s rebirth on television turned up in force for this streak-breaking win.
“To me, it was this group’s first opportunity to play a playoff game in front of these fans,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “We were really yearning for full capacity or close to full capacity, but to be able to deliver a victory in front of those guys is a great source of pride.”
Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the second-seeded Suns, who are in an early hole in their first postseason series in 11 years.
Booker scored 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting, but the star guard was ejected with 35.4 seconds to play after committing his flagrant foul against Schröder. Moments later, Crowder got a technical foul, following Booker off the court after apparently trying to confront Schröder.
Booker explained his frustration curtly: “We were losing the game. We want to win.”
“Can't happen,” Davis said of Booker's foul. “Can't do that. They've been chirping, it's playoff basketball, but you don't push a guy out of the air like that, two hands. It's a dirty play. Dennis could have really got hurt right there. ... That just can't happen. Hard fouls, things like that, playoff basketball. We accept those, but just to blatantly push a guy with two hands out of the air, it's a scary play. Good thing he's OK, but plays like that, it's unacceptable.”
Phoenix also got another quiet game from Chris Paul, who played just 2 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter even though coach Monty Williams said the star point guard's bruised right shoulder had healed. Paul had seven points and six assists in 27 minutes, and he spent part of his postgame interview bemoaning the presence of referee Scott Foster, a frequent target of his ire in recent years.
Davis scored 18 points in the third quarter while staking the Lakers to a 17-point lead, and Wesley Matthews hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter while Los Angeles pushed its margin to 21.
Cameron Payne hit three 3-pointers in a late rally, but the Suns couldn't get closer than eight points.
“It wasn’t a close game, but we got it in reach,” Williams said. “And in those moments, all of our guys know we have to be better, and our guys agree.”
Phoenix won the series opener in impressive fashion, but the Lakers answered with much-improved play in a 109-102 victory in Game 2. The Suns were the NBA's best road team during their outstanding regular season, but the Lakers are proving to be the nightmare matchup most expected when the champs slipped to the bottom of the bracket due to injuries.
TIP-INS
Suns: F Abdel Nader (knee) remained the only player in the series unavailable due to injury. ... Mikal Bridges had six points in 34 minutes.
Lakers: Starting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went to the locker room in the third quarter after bruising his left quadriceps. He didn't return. Caldwell-Pope scored five points in 26 minutes. ... Andre Drummond had six points and 11 rebounds.
LONG TIME COMING
The Lakers' eight-year, two-month gap between home playoff games was an unprecedented stretch in franchise history.
Before the six-year postseason drought that ended last season, the Lakers had only missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons once in their first 66 seasons of existence.
The Lakers' most recent playoff game at Staples was Game 4 of a first-round sweep by San Antonio in 2013. That was the season that began with championship aspirations and ended with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash sidelined by injuries.
KING VS JAE
James had another yet lively meeting with Crowder — his former Cleveland teammate, his opponent in last year's NBA Finals against Miami, and the Lakers fans’ least-favorite Phoenix player, as evidenced by numerous derogatory chants of his name.
James got a standing ovation when he drew an offensive foul on Crowder with seven minutes to play.
Crowder also struggled from the field, to Staples Center's delight: He missed his first seven shots, including six 3-pointers, before finally hitting a jumper with 6:43 left.
BIG SWITCH
Torrey Craig and Frank Kaminsky effectively bumped Dario Saric from the Suns' rotation for Game 3. Saric, who scored six points in 26 minutes and occasionally got roasted on defense by James in the first two games, didn't play.
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