Anthony Davis symbolized the Lakers’ season as he hobbled off the court and grimaced in pain.

It was emblematic of a rough run for the defending champs that ended unpredictably early when strains and pains dented their plans one final time. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs after a 113-100 loss Thursday to the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center

  • Devin Booker scored 47 points, including 33 in the first half, as the Suns won the first-round series, 4-2

  • James had 29 points and seven assists but couldn’t prevent losing in the first round for the first time in his career.

  • Lakers Coach Frank Vogel tried to mix things up before the game, inserting Marc Gasol into the starting lineup in place of Andre Drummond, who never entered the game

The Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs after a 113-100 loss Thursday to the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center. Devin Booker scored 47 points, including 33 in the first half, as the Suns won the first-round series, 4-2, and the right to play Denver in the Western Conference semifinals.

Davis tried to play after missing Game 5 because of a groin injury but re-aggravated it while jumping to block Booker’s driving floater a mere 5:25 into the game. Davis slowly walked to the sidelines and sat down briefly before heading to the locker room.

His night was over. So was the Lakers’ season.

“I didn’t want to just lay down…I wanted to do whatever I could to help this team,” Davis said. “My body didn’t agree.”

Without their All-Star forward, the Lakers simply didn’t have enough strength on defense or punch on offense until a late rally brought them within 10 points of Phoenix. It was as close as they got after trailing by as many as 29.

Champions win titles because of skilled players, good coaching and, indeed, some luck. Good fortune can be defined as an off-balance last-second shot, a questionable referee’s call that went their way or, in the big picture, avoiding the injury bug. This was where the Lakers weren’t so lucky.

Davis missed 37 games and James 27 as the Lakers slowly sunk from second to seventh in the West standings. It was a different story last season — Davis missed nine game and James only four as the Lakers won the franchise’s 17th championship.

“The one thing that bothers me more than anything — we never really got an opportunity to see our full team at full strength, whether because of injury or COVID or something going on with our ball club this year,” LeBron James said. “We could never fully get into a rhythm and never really kind of see the true potential we were capable of.”

Despite all their injury issues this season, the Lakers led Phoenix in the first-round series, 2-1, and were ahead in Game 4 when Davis initially injured his groin.

The Lakers were blown out by 30 without Davis in Game 5. Then came Game 6.

Booker was obscenely accurate in the first quarter, making all six of his three-point shots on the way to 22 points as the Suns took a resounding 36-14 lead.

The Suns were deadly from three-point range, making 18 of 35 behind the arc (51.4%) while showing why they had the NBA’s second-best record during the regular season. 

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James had 29 points and seven assists but couldn’t prevent losing in the first round for the first time in his career.

Lakers Coach Frank Vogel tried to mix things up before the game, inserting Marc Gasol into the starting lineup in place of Andre Drummond, who never entered the game. Gasol opened up the offense with seven assists but did not score any points.

Key reserves Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Alex Caruso and Markieff Morris each scored only two points for the Lakers. Caruso left the game in the second quarter and did not return because of an ankle injury.

Perhaps Vogel said it best: “Some of the injuries that we faced were just too much.”