With their biggest win yet, the Lakers beat the Suns 106–103 in the quarterfinals to earn their spot in the semi-finals in Las Vegas. They stayed unbeaten in the In-Season Tournament.

Both teams traded baskets back and forth, with LeBron James and Kevin Durant at the center of it. But Austin Reaves’ 3-pointer with 15 seconds left was the better shot of the night.

Anthony Davis scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and LeBron James had a great night with 11 assists to go along with his 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. The Suns couldn’t move because of Jarred Vanderbilt’s strong defense, and he also made an effect on the boards by grabbing six, four of which were offensive.

The Lakers were able to keep their energy up thanks to Reaves’s scoring explosion in the second half. He pulled down six rebounds, scored 20, and passed the ball twice.

After Kevin Durant missed the first shot for the Suns, LeBron and D’Angelo scored for the Lakers. Everything was planned by LeBron, who gave his friends different chances, which they took. A lot of people on the Lakers passed the ball, and they got eight in the first few minutes, with four by LeBron.

The Lakers’ defense got a million times better when Vando came in, and the Suns turned the ball over ten times by the end of the quarter. They were ahead 33–23. Davis scored 14 points in the third quarter.

As they did in the first quarter, the Lakers continued to dominate on defense, making it hard for the Suns to make an attack that worked every time. In the ninth minute, a 3-pointer made by a covered Rui Hachimura gave them a 13-point lead.

The Suns went on a run that cut the lead to 10 thanks to some mistakes by the Lakers. Sadly, the Lakers’ offense slowed down, and they had a terrible stretch where they missed every single shot they took.

Vando’s offensive rebounds were very important in stopping some of the bleeding, which led to a D’Angelo 3-pointer that gave the Lakers a 59-47 lead at halfway.

For most of the third quarter, it looked like the Lakers’ offense was falling apart. They lost all the energy they had in the first half and had already turned the ball over nine times. On defense, they also couldn’t stop Grayson Allen from making threes, which helped the Suns’ attack.

Austin Reaves made a few shots that went in, which kept the Lakers’ attack going. A-Max Christie’s three-pointer put the Lakers back ahead by two. At the end of the third, the Lakers were ahead 83–82, and Reaves had 17 points.

At the start of the fourth quarter, both teams were hitting shots and not playing as much defense. LeBron put the team on their back by making tough shots and making threes.

Both the Lakers and the Suns kept trading points, and the game stayed close the whole quarter. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker both had five fouls with three minutes left in the game. The Suns were still in the game by three points.

LeBron once again turned it up and put the team on his back to help the Lakers get a five-point lead with a minute left in the game.

There were only 15 seconds left in the game when Reaves made a huge three-pointer that put the Lakers ahead by four points. The Suns got within two points thanks to an easy Durant layup, but AD’s two free throws helped seal the win.