Final: Lakers get blown out again. That may be a theme this season.
4th Quarter (:00): Lakers - 99 Suns - 119.
4th Quarter (:35): Davis has been pretty good too. But no others are helping.
4th Quarter (1:17): Ellington has had a nice game.
4th Quarter (2:05): Wow! Goodwin tried to posterize the Lakers bigs but came up short.
4th Quarter (3:06): It's going to be a long season for the Lakers.
4th Quarter (3:06): Suns still lighting up from threes.
4th Quarter (5:22): Gerald Green gets his fourth point.
4th Quarter (6:29): And another three by Thomas. This guy's on fire. He has 23 points.
4th Quarter (6:54): Thomas with another...guess what, three!
4th Quarter (8:58): All the 50/50 balls going to the Suns.
4th Quarter (9:33): Lakers still giving up wide open shots.
4th Quarter (10:08): Thomas just killing the Lakers.
4th Quarter (10:50): Lakers look so, so terrible.
3rd Quarter (:00): Lakers - 73 Suns - 98.
3rd Quarter (:08): What a terrible foul by Ronnie Price. Fouls Thomas all the way near the halfcourt line and the team was out of fouls.
3rd Quarter (:30): Kobe is the whole team. Bledsoe gets his second technical, and he is ejected.
3rd Quarter (:45): The Lakers falling a sleep on the other end. Almost allowed an easy dunk to Shalvik Randolph.
3rd Quarter (:54): Kobe just working so, so hard to get points. He has 30 points.
3rd Quarter (1:18): Isaiah Thomas is on fire too. 6-of-7 shooting good for 15 points.
3rd Quarter (1:58): Now a technical foul on Bledsoe.
3rd Quarter (2:25): Marcus Morris another three.
3rd Quarter (2:55): Kobe is going to be irritated all season long it seems. They just don't have enough talent surrounding him.
3rd Quarter (2:55): Kobe really frustrated. Was looking for a foul, gets a technical.
3rd Quarter (3:18): Thomas into the game. Suns up 25.
3rd Quarter (3:29): This game has gotten way out of hand for the Lakers.
3rd Quarter (4:09): Another three. Bledsoe again.
3rd Quarter (4:35): Dragic taking over.
3rd Quarter (4:57): Phoenix have only missed three shots in this quarter.
3rd Quarter (5:08): Marcus Morris once more.
3rd Quarter (5:20): Kobe is trying to do everything here, but he just can't. No help at all for the man.
3rd Quarter (5:44): Dragic again. In transition this time.
3rd Quarter (6:02): Dragic with a beautiful reverse lay up.
3rd Quarter (6:27): Easy shot after easy shot for Marcus Morris.
3rd Quarter (7:09): Kobe is the only one doing anything for the Lakers.
3rd Quarter (7:55): Meanwhile, the Morris twins killing the Lakers.
3rd Quarter (8:08): Lin still struggling for the Lakers.
3rd Quarter (9:25): 8 turnovers by Carlos Boozer. In excusable.
3rd Quarter (9:25): Lakers - 55 Suns - 68. Dragic to the line for two after he stole the ball and got fouled in transition.
3rd Quarter (9:45): Lakers defense reverting back to the first quarter defense again, allowing open threes.
3rd Quarter (10:27): Just like early in the first quarter, Plumlee gets an open dunk off a feed from Bledsoe.
3rd Quarter (10:51): Dragic was quiet in the first half, getting going here in the second half.
3rd Quarter (11:30): What a nice move by Dragic at the rim finishing with a swooping layup.
3rd Quarter (11:49): Johnson makes all three.
3rd Quarter (11:49): Wesley Johnson gets fouled beyond the arc in the first play of the half.
3rd Quarter (12:00): Bryant had 19 points in the first half. Bledsoe led the Suns with 12 points, five assists, and four rebounds.
2nd Quarter (:00): Lakers - 50 Suns - 59. Not too bad of a second quarter for the Lakers. They are still within striking distance.
2nd Quarter (:21): Finally Lin attacks the basket.
2nd Quarter (:36): Ed Davis limping a bit.
2nd Quarter (1:11): Thomas another three.
2nd Quarter (1:24): Boozer losing the ball twice after corralling the rebound.
2nd Quarter (2:22): Bad play by Kobe. Didn't notice the shot clock. But then the Lakers stole it on the other end, leading to a Kobe lay up.
2nd Quarter (2:48): Dragic has been kept in check, just 4 points on 1-of-4 shooting.
2nd Quarter (3:47): Kobe hits a three. He's the only one scoring for the Lakers...again.
2nd Quarter (4:10): Bledsoe just hurting the Lakers.
2nd Quarter (4:42): Bledsoe again, going coast to coast for a layup.
2nd Quarter (5:29): Bledsoe continues his hot shooting, hits another three.
2nd Quarter (5:34): Suns were once up by 18. Down to 4 now.
2nd Quarter (5:55): Ed Davis is doing a superb job of gaining good rebounding position. Drawing a lot of loose ball fouls.
2nd Quarter (6:12): Lakers - 39 Suns - 43.
2nd Quarter (6:25): Kobe's fall away jumpers are still sweet.
2nd Quarter (7:02): This lineup of Hill and Davis in the frontcourt has been working for the Lakers.
2nd Quarter (7:18): And Kobe answers back with a jump shot and a foul.
2nd Quarter (7:35): Lakers cut it to four, but gave Tolliver an open three.
2nd Quarter (8:16): Tough shot by Kobe leaning to his left.
2nd Quarter (8:40): Kobe back into the game.
2nd Quarter (9:12): Ellington struggled during the preseason but has three straight shots here. Thomas answers though.
2nd Quarter (9:34): Green stops the bleeding with a floater.
2nd Quarter (10:13): Kobe's shoulder is sore. Meanwhile, the Lakers turning the tables, forcing turnovers.
2nd Quarter (10:29): Hill's jumper cuts it to 6.
2nd Quarter (10:47): 11-1 run by the Lakers to cut the lead to 8.
2nd Quarter (11:44): Ed Davis starts the second quarter with an and-one play.
1st Quarter (:00): Well, that ends a sloppy first quarter for the Lakers. Suns up 33-19.
1st Quarter (:57): Thomas lighting it up. Hits another three, this time in semi-transition.
1st Quarter (1:38): Another turnover by the Lakers. That makes it four straight.
1st Quarter (2:01): Another turnover by the Lakers.
1st Quarter (2:11): Lakers - 15 Suns - 30. Absolutely zero defense being played by the Lakers.
1st Quarter (2:11): As talked about before, the Lakers cannot turn it over against this team. They turned it over twice, and the Suns capitalized on both giveaways.
1st Quarter (3:00): Open three for Markieff Morris all good. Then Markieff tips home a miss in the fast break.
1st Quarter (3:16): Gerald Green in the game now. More three-point shooting.
1st Quarter (3:16): Two fouls on Bledsoe.
1st Quarter (3:28): Well, Thomas hits one in the face of Lin.
1st Quarter (3:50): Lin takes it to the basket on the fast break. Lakers dodging real bullets. They keep leaving guys open for threes.
1st Quarter (4:32): Lakers can't even crash the boards right now.
1st Quarter (4:44): Kobe goes out of the game. Price in.
1st Quarter (4:51): Here comes Isaiah Thomas.
1st Quarter (5:57): The Lakers seriously have no scorers outside of Kobe. Bledsoe hits a three. 3-of-7 from threes for the Suns.
1st Quarter (6:10): Lakers dodged a bullet. They left Marcus Morris open for a three again.
1st Quarter (6:25): Lakers - 9 Suns - 14.
1st Quarter (7:02): What footwork by Dragic. Split two defenders for a scop lay up.
1st Quarter (7:18): Alex Len into the game.
1st Quarter (7:37): Open three for Marcus Morris. No defense at all.
1st Quarter (8:07): Kobe made a nice move and pass to Boozer who blew the layup. Not good at all.
1st Quarter (8:39): A fast paced game so far. That plays in Phoenix's favor.
1st Quarter (9:01): Kobe hearing some boos from this Phoenix crowd.
1st Quarter (9:45): Suns red hot so far.
1st Quarter (10:00): Kobe's on the board.
1st Quarter (10:31): Another easy dunk for Plumlee. No interior defense for the Lakers. As expected Suns burning the Lakers with dribble penetration.
1st Quarter (11:03): And the three-point shooting begins. Marcus Morris hits a three.
1st Quarter (11:11): Lakers have lost six in a row in Phoenix.
1st Quarter (11:25): On the other end, Plumlee goal tends Boozer's shot.
1st Quarter (11:43): Suns start the game with an easy dunk for Plumlee on a pick and roll play with Bledsoe.
1st Quarter (12:00): We are underway!
7:12 P.M. EST: As expected Marcus Morris is in the starting lineup.
7:12 P.M. EST: Here we go. Lakers road test begins.
7:10 P.M. EST: Lakers were 13-28 on the road last season. The Suns were 26-15 at home.
10:08 P.M. EST: Kobe has ice on his shoulder. Maybe soreness?
10:00 P.M. EST: The lose of Julius Randle may play a part for the Lakers emotionally in this game.
9:50 P.M. EST: About 20 minutes left for the game. Who will lead the Suns in scoring. Could be Bledsoe tonight.
8:40 P.M. EST: Wayne Ellington is back for the Lakers.
8:16 P.M. EST: The Lakers will also have to make sure they play defense without fouling. The Lakers put the Rockets to the line 50 times last night. That cannot happen against a much better costless throw shooting team.
8:15 P.M. EST: The Suns are going to look to hurt the Lakers with threes. The Rockets were a plus-27 from downtown last night, and the Suns are another dangerous three-point shooting team, especially at home. At least with the Suns, the Lakers do not have to worry about their big man dominating the paint, so it should be slightly easier to protect the three-point line.
8:14 P.M. EST: The Lakers will need more efficiency from Wesley Johnson in this one. He was inconsistent all year long last season and did not play well last night. With Kobe on the floor, he should receive wide open looks and needs to take advantage of them.
8:13 P.M. EST: Who will defend Kobe in this one? The Suns may go with Eric Bledsoe on Kobe for a bit or try Marcus Morris on him. Either way, it is going to be tough for Phoenix to contain Kobe without their best perimeter defender.
8:12 P.M. EST: The Suns will look to run at every chance. They want this to be an up-tempo game to tire the Lakers out since they are coming off a game last night. The Lakers will need to limit their turnovers in order to control the pace and limit transition on the other end of the Suns.
8:11 P.M. EST: The Suns are likely to play all three of their point guards at once in this one with Tucker out. Rookie T.J. Warren is out as well, so expect a small unit for the Suns for most of the night.
8:10 P.M. EST: The Lakers should have the same starters of Jeremy Lin, Kobe Bryant, Wesley Johnson, Carlos Boozer, and Jordan Hill.
8:09 P.M. EST: P.J. Tucker, Phoenix's best perimeter defender and primary defender on Kobe Bryant, will be out as he is serving a three game suspension. Marcus Morris is likely to get the start in his place.
8:08 P.M. EST: The Suns bench is very deep, and they have plenty of scorers, so Xavier Henry will have to be aggressive and score in bunches to keep the Lakers afloat throughout the game.
8:07 P.M. EST: The Lakers are going to need more help on the offensive end. Kobe Bryant cannot be the only one to score just like he did last night against the Houston Rockets. Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer will need to step it up. An X-Factor for the Lakers has to be Xavier Henry.
8:06 P.M. EST: The keys for the Lakers will be to contain the Phoenix Suns guards Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, and Isaiah Thomas. Those guys will be looking to carve the defense of the Lakers to get into the lane. They will be looking to penetrate and kick it out to the three-point shooters, so the Lakers will need to do a good job of running out on those shooters to make sure they put the ball on the floor instead.
8:05 P.M. EST: The Lakers already had injuries to Ryan Kelly, Nick Young, Wayne Ellington, and Steve Nash. However, Kelly says that he is close to returning from his hamstring injury, which at this point could be crucial for the Lakers.
8:04 P.M. EST: In Randle's absence, expect Robert Sacre to see some minutes. The Lakers saw Xavier Henry return from injury, and Ronnie Price play after leaving the team's last preseason game early, but they lost a major piece.
8:03 P.M. EST: The Lakers injury bug continued last night as they lost Julius Randle to a broken foot. It was extremely disappointing to see the 19-year-old go to down to a painful injury in his NBA debut. He may miss the entire season.
8:02 P.M. EST: This will be the second of a back to back for the Lakers. They played Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets and got blown out by 18. Meanwhile, the Suns are fresh as this will be their first game of the season.
8:01 P.M. EST: Last time these two teams clashed was during the preseason where they went to overtime. It was a close, exciting game, but things could be different during the season.
8:00 P.M. EST: Welcome to VAVEL_USA's LIVE event of the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns.