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Lakers come up just short in Phoenix, fall to 0-5

Richard Mackson / USA Today Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers finally came close.

Unfortunately, close only counts for the gamblers, and the Lakers fell to 0-5 after a tight 112-106 road loss to the Phoenix Suns. It wasn't pretty, and it required Kobe Bryant taking a ludicrous 37 shots to get 39 points and keep the team afloat on his back, but it was their narrowest defeat thus far.

Maybe that's progress?

And so for the first time since 1957-58 when the team was in Minneapolis, the Lakers are winless through five to open the season, and facing the possibility of matching that team's 0-7 start (the Lakers next two games are against Charlotte and Memphis, not easy tasks).

It's not as if the Lakers were in easy on Tuesday. Phoenix is a tough matchup for the aging Lakers, and L.A. was on the road and playing their third game in four nights. They're also not very good, which makes any matchup a tough one.

Surprisingly, the Lakers weren't outscored from beyond the arc, matching Phoenix's six threes. The Lakers also had the edge at the free throw line. The issue was Phoenix's speed, with the Suns scoring 21 points on the fastbreak and 13 points off of turnovers, both appreciable edges over the more measure Lakers' attack.

Isaiah Thomas, Gerald Green and Markieff Morris all scored 20 or more, combining for 71 points on 52.8 percent shooting, and four different Suns dished at least four assists. It's tough to keep up, and the Lakers don't have the defensive chops.

Offensively, it was all Bryant, which should surprise exactly nobody. He took 37 shots, more than the rest of the starting lineup combined. In the fourth quarter, Bryant took 13 shots, turning back the clock some with a 14-point performance down the stretch that stalled in the game's closing moments as Bryant missed two shots in the final 41 seconds.

It was frustrating, but it was at least close. That might be all that Lakers fans can ask for right now.

Save us, Swaggy P.

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