Lakers' Lackluster defense cost them Game 1 against the Phoenix Suns 99-90

Los Angeles- LA had trouble stopping the three point shooting of the Suns and dropped Game 99-90.

Early on, the Lakers had trouble stopping the uptempo Phoenix Suns. it seemed like LA was confused with how to stop Chris Paul and Devin Booker. Both players were giving the Lakers the business in the first quarter and partly the second and it seemed like the Lakers were losing their confidence on the defensive end. They did not have an answer and just like that, the Suns were up by double figures.

However on a follow up dunk by LeBron James in the second quarter, Paul seemed to injury his shoulder after being bumped by one of his teammates, which helped the Lakers get their offense going. After Paul's exit, the Lakers went on a 9-0 run to get themselves back in the game and get the momentum swinging back to their side. After cutting the Suns' lead to five, Booker and crew went on a 7-2 run to go back up double figures.

At the end of break, the Lakers were down 53-45 and were shooting around 40% from the field.

In the second half, the Lakers were getting bullied by the Suns on the glass and was not closing out on open shooters. James tried to will his team, but he really did not have anyone else that was impacting the game until late into the third quarter going into the fourth.. Dennis Schroder and Andre Drummond hit some crucial shots to get the Lakers back in the game, but too much Booker kept the Lakers at bay. Suns went on to win and steal Game 1 of the series.

James finished with 18 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds

D. Booker finished with 34 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds