The 2023-24 preseason is over for the Los Angeles Lakers, as they faced the Phoenix Suns on Thursday in their final game of the exhibition schedule. Their starters and regular rotation reserves played throughout the first half and a good part of the third quarter. In some ways, they looked sharp and productive.
Los Angeles had trouble putting the ball in the basket in the first quarter, although its defense kept it in the game. It put up 38 points in the second quarter to take a 58-54 halftime lead before things fell apart shortly afterward.
Head coach Darvin Ham took most of his regulars out midway through the third quarter, other than Rui Hachimura and Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes. That’s when a one-point Lakers lead turned into a 16-point deficit at the end of the quarter. The team never recovered and it lost, 123-100.
Its first regular-season contest will be on the road against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, Oct. 24.