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PHOENIX – After Luke Walton's anger, the Los Angeles Lakers reacted to his team's poor defense during the morning meeting, allowing them to win a dominant victory in the second quarter.
"We could feel his anger," Lance Stephenson told Dave McMenamin of ESPN about Walton's decision at the morning meeting at the hotel's teams. "We had to have this W."
LeBron James won his first Laker victory and helped end a three-game losing streak with a near-triple-double of 19 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in the Lakers' 131-113 win over the Phoenix Suns.
"It's great, it's a win, point," said James, who was able to rest in the fourth quarter while the Lakers gained 27 points. "But we are happy to know what we did during our training. [and] in these first games to keep getting better. "
"We have a lot of talent on the offensive," added James. "But I think it'll always start with our defense."
Seven Lakers finished the double-digit game while Los Angeles beat the Suns 44-24 in the second quarter despite a game without suspensions Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram. The Lakers defense, which had lost 131.6 points on average in the first three games, forced nine of the Suns' 20 turnovers to get 15 points in the second quarter.
Stephenson – who played a key role in the win after also getting close to a triple-double with 23 points, eight assists and eight rebounds – said Walton deserved some help for the defense and the increased communication from the Lakers.
"We talked a lot about defense," said Stephenson, who gave the Lakers a spark with eight points and four shots on four in the second quarter. "We watched a lot of movies yesterday and today, and Coach was very upset with us and he told us about our defense and talking about D on the defensive and being very selfless. I mean we did business tonight. "
When asked how much Walton was angry at the morning meeting at the teams' hotel, Stephenson replied, "Oh, he was crazy."
"He came in today very angry, he shouted after us, he told us that we had to stand up for the defense, play selfless basketball and get a W."
Lakers head coach Luke Walton was criticized on Monday after LA's loss in overtime against the Spurs. LeBron James was incredulous several times during the match, the fouls having not been followed after having the feeling that he had been touched.
Suns star Devin Booker was eliminated in the third quarter of the Lakers defeat on Wednesday night with a left hamstring injury.
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Walton was furious against officials Monday night after the Lakers lost a 143-142 home overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Walton criticized the officials for what he and the Lakers thought were several missed calls. The NBA fined him $ 15,000 on Wednesday.
Wednesday night, for the first time this season, the Lakers went to the game more often in a game than their opponent, making 23 free throws against the 21 of the Suns. They focused on reducing their fouls, as well as defending, bouncing and sharing the ball.
JaVale McGee also continued to exceed expectations, posting her best game as Laker with 20 points, six rebounds and four blocks in 25 minutes. McGee was beaten against number 1 pick Deandre Ayton, who had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for Phoenix, who lost Devin Booker against a hamstring at the end of the third quarter.
After four games, McGee averaged 16.2 points, seven rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 24 minutes, and he made it clear later that he could play more and that he did not. Was not limited by his asthma.
"That's what I mean about asthma," said McGee as a result of his questioning about it after the game. "Stop talking about this, as if I was suffering from asthma attacks.I have never had an asthma attack in my life.I feel that this has definitely reduced my value as a basketball player.
"People say," Oh, he can only play 20 minutes because he's asthmatic. "No, there are a lot of people with asthma in the league, I feel like someone who gives me this excuse of the kind" Cool, we can play with him at the minute because he is asthmatic. "
McGee, who has not averaged more than 18.1 minutes per game in his previous six seasons, thinks he should have played less time because of his asthma when he spent three seasons in Denver from 2012 to 2015.
"Probably Denver because of the altitude," McGee said. "Everyone's having trouble breathing in Denver."
"They have asthma meds," he added. "There is a reason for me to take it, so I do not suffer from asthma when I take my asthma meds."
The Lakers (1-3) will look to put together their first set of victories when unbeaten Denver Nuggets (4-0) visit Thursday. Los Angeles will still not have Rondo, who serves a three-game suspension, and Ingram, suspended for four games, for his role in a fight against Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
"I do not feel like people are watching the first three games we've played, we've faced playoff teams," said McGee, who also scored his first three-pointer. since the 2012-13 season and the second of his career. . "Big teams in the playoffs, too.
"So, for us to be together for only a few months, I feel that we enjoy extremely well, and when we reach this threshold of greatness to which we can be, I feel that we are going to be unstoppable."
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