James Worthy recaps LA Lakers' loss to Phoenix Suns: "When you got that little donut tire, you can't go so far on that tire"
The LA Lakers were handed a grueling beatdown by the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. Playing on an immensely shorthanded roster, Lakers legend James Worthy recapped the Lakers' performance in this away game.
The LA Lakers continued their struggles by settling into a winning rhythm this season. After notching two successive wins, the Purple and Gold were brought down to earth by the Phoenix Suns.
After being handed a blowout 104-130 loss to Phoenix, the Lakers found themselves falling to 13-17 on the season. However, the scoreline doesn't indicate the nature of the game.
The Lakeshow was severely shorthanded heading into this game on the road. With Anthony Davis out for at least a month, the LA Lakers also saw the absence of LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Austin Reaves.
With most of their main rotation players out for the game, the LA Lakers had close to no chance of winning. This sentiment was reflected by Robert Horry and James Worthy on Spectrum SportsNet's postgame broadcast.
Horry kicked off the commentary on the Lakers' loss by highlighting the Suns' brilliant perimeter shooting. He said:
"51% for the Suns from three. You know you in trouble when you got guys like Torrey Craig going 4-4. It is just one of those nights. It is almost when you talk about no pressure on the team. They saw the Big 3 out and Austin is out, oh there's no pressure, we just shooting freely. And that's what they kinda did."
James Worthy chimed in to follow up on Horry's comments as well. He added:
"You know my old analogy that I like to use in situations like this. When you got that flat tire, when you got that little donut tire, you can't go so far on that tire. The Lakers had 3-4 donut tires tonight and they just couldn't keep up with the size- Phoenix had a lot of points in the paintings as well. You didn't expect a win really. But I did like the fight."
.@geeter3, @RKHorry & @JamesWorthy42 recap tonight's loss in Phoenix. https://t.co/ZQo5VcUKfs
While Worthy gave props to the shorthanded Lakers team, he highlighted Phoenix's ability to close out games in the necessary fashion. Making note of the Suns' status as the top team in the West, Worthy had to give credit where credit was due.
Although the Suns were playing without Devin Booker, the team had enough firepower to handle the injury-plagued Lakers. Considering the manner in which Phoenix has dealt with the Lakers in the past few years, it is safe to say that even a Lakers team at full strength would have struggled against the Suns.
The LA Lakers don't have an answer for the Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns have emerged as a bit of a thorn in the LA Lakers' side over the course of the last few seasons. Given that the two teams have had bad blood for a long time, the current scenario is just a reiteration of the rivalry.
Since the 2020-21 season, the Lakers have struggled to beat the Suns. While this would imply some degree of competitiveness, Phoenix has virtually blown out LA in every matchup since their playoff meeting.
The Lakers have failed to win a single game against the Suns in any format since then, preseason included. This does not bode well for the title-aspirant Lakers in the slightest.
As things stand, the Suns have the Lakers' numbers in every meeting. Considering the way in which things are going for Purple and Gold, it doesn't seem like this dynamic will change anytime soon.
Read: Kendrick Perkins believes Lakers will manage to stay afloat in Anthony Davis’ absence