Earlier in the season, the Lakers had a habit of falling behind big early thanks to terrible first quarters. As the weeks have gone on, it's become less of an issue.

Not Sunday in Phoenix. The purple and gold fell behind by as much as 20 points in the opening quarter, finishing it down 17 after surrendering a putrid 45 points en route to a 123-113 loss. They spent the rest of the game playing uphill, trying to find a way to get ahead of the Suns, who have regularly blown leads of late but nonetheless have been effective at home. The Lakers got within two a couple times in the third, but couldn't keep that momentum in the fourth as Phoenix pulled away.

The Lakers suffered a slow start from Anthony Davis (who still finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, with three steals and two blocks) and mid games from Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura and virtually nothing from the bench. Add in some odd choices from Darvin Ham, and the Lakers drop to three games above .500.

In the end, it wasted a high efficiency, high end effort from LeBron James (12-19 from the floor, 28 points, 12 assists).

So where did they lose, on a day where the 3-point shooting was very good and the FG% overall was strong? Start with the glass, where the Lakers allowed 14 offensive boards. And then free throws. The Lakers shot four of them, to Phoenix's 19.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers come out remarkably flat, lose to Phoenix on Sunday.

SEGMENT 2: Weird choices from Darvin Ham

SEGMENT 3: The Bench Is Eroded.

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