LOS ANGELES \u2014 The Lakers knew what they were about to face.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pressure and the fouling, three, four times on the possession that those teams do \u2014 because Phoenix plays a lot like [Oklahoma City] \u2014 it\u2019s to get you sped up. It\u2019s to get you disorganized,\u201d Lakers coach J.J. Redick said pregame about the Suns\u2019 defense, which entered the game averaging a league-leading 10.6 steals a game.<\/p>\n
The Lakers got sped up and became disorganized. The result was 16 Suns steals on Monday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kind of stuck to what we do, though,\u201d Suns coach Jordan Ott said. \u201cI mean, if you play extremely hard, try to pressure, try to force turnovers, try to get the extra possessions to win the possession game, and we play fast \u2014 obviously we got out, the fast break points are 28 to 2 \u2014 but I thought even in the half court, our pace was pretty good. We just kept getting to the next action. Kept trying to move bodies offensively. And when you have 35 assists, that means we were doing some good things on that end.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Suns did a lot of things right on their way to a comfortable 125-108 win in the Lakers\u2019 home. Here are three quick takeaways from the Phoenix victory.<\/p>\n
Devon Booker out, Dillon Brooks steps up<\/p>\n
The Suns came into the game shorthanded with their third leading scorer, Grayson Allen, out with an illness. Then, with two minutes remaining in the first quarter, leading scorer Devin Booker went to the bench and never re-entered the game due to a groin injury (Booker did come back and sit on the bench in street clothes; he will be examined tomorrow).<\/p>\n
Without those two, Dylan Brooks stepped up with 33 points, including knocking down 10 in a row at one point.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what Dylan does,\u201d Ott said. \u201cHe plays extremely hard every single night, and he works extremely hard on his game. Those shots that he takes, it\u2019s exactly what he does in his workouts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brooks also did his job getting LeBron off his game, getting the 40-year-old to yell at him and the Suns bench after the third quarter, when the Lakers were down 19, 96-17. LeBron did stay in the game long enough in the fourth quarter to get to 10 points on the night, extending his double-digit scoring streak to 1,297 games.<\/p>\n
Collin Gillespie carving out a role<\/p>\n
The way teams playing the Lakers have been asking \u201cWho\u2019s No. 12?\u201d about Jake LaRavia<\/a> this season \u2014 or the way they were asking \u201cWho is No. 15?\u201d about Austin Reaves a season or two ago \u2014 Lakers fans were asking about Collin Gillespie on Monday.<\/p>\n The undrafted third-year player out of Villanova has been carving out a role in Phoenix this season and stepped up with 28 points, including hitting 8-of-14 from 3-point range on the night.<\/p>\n