Going up against Chris Paul, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers were facing a stiff challenge.
Before beating the Orlando Magic by a slim margin on Sunday, they had lost three of their previous four games and were watching their odds of making the playoffs grow longer.
Los Angeles fell behind 7-2, but made the game competitive shortly afterward before taking a seven-point lead at halftime. After the Suns made the score tight again, the Purple and Gold extended the lead to double digits in the final period and held on for a 122-111 victory.
The win puts the Lakers back in 10th place in the Western Conference. They’re just half a game behind the seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves and 1.5 games behind the sixth-place Golden State Warriors.