On Friday night, as part of the first NBA In-Season Tournament, the Los Angeles Lakers finished off their road trip against the Phoenix Suns.

With Anthony Davis returning to the lineup after missing just one game, the Lakers were able to beat the Suns 122-119 and capture their first win of the season. There are still three games left in Group A, but the Lakers’ triumph keeps them in the running.

Darvin Ham decided to switch up his starting lineup by replacing Austin Reaves with Cam Reddish so that his Lakers team would have more height. Reddish came up with a steal and then drained a three-pointer from the corner, so it appeared to work right away. The Lakers’ sluggish start has warranted a lineup change, but despite that, they took an early 13-7 lead in this game.

Bradley Beal kept Phoenix in it with a blazing start in just his second game back from a back ailment. When Kevin Durant converted a three-point play, the Lakers’ early advantage vanished.

he Suns got rolling and built a double-digit lead, while the Lakers lost their momentum and struggled offensively.

After LeBron James seemed to hurt his leg briefly, Los Angeles headed into halftime behind 34-25. Fortunately, he was able to return to the game, and his playmaking, along with that of Austin Reaves, helped bring the Lakers back into the contest.

However, the Lakers’ inability to keep the Suns off the offensive boards was a recurring problem throughout the season, and that helped the Suns maintain a double-digit advantage.

The Lakers’ first-half shooting was dismal, with only a few of makes from Taurean Prince and D’Angelo Russell. After a Beal layup at the buzzer ended the second quarter, L.A. trailed 63-55 going into the locker room. James had begun to go into attack mode.

Davis opened the third quarter with a fast basket, and when James converted both of his free throws, the margin was cut to four points, but Jusuf Nurkic quickly answered with five of his own.

From then, LeBron went hot, hitting back-to-back threes to bring the Lakers within striking distance. Russell also continued his outstanding night, finding his teammates like Davis for some easy baskets.

But just as the Lakers appeared to be making headway, Durant scored 10 straight points for Phoenix with two 3-pointers and a 3-point play. Thankfully, the Lakers only trailed 96-79 following Reddish’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter.

After Reddish and Rui Hachimura opened the fourth quarter with three-pointers, James found Reaves for a transition layup, and the Lakers took their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

Another Reddish 3 came after a Suns timeout, and the run was finally halted by a layup from Eric Gordon. Another timeout was called by Frank Vogel after Christian Wood hit a three-pointer to help the Lakers increase their advantage to five.

With the game tight and a thrilling end in sight, Durant’s huge shots for the Suns helped got them going again.

Despite the Lakers’ best efforts, they were unable to contain Durant in the paint, but with a minute left, Reddish buried a massive three-pointer from the corner to give his side a 118-113 lead.

The Lakers subsequently got the stop they needed, and Prince sealed the deal by making a layup.