Fans stood and roared with excitement during the third quarter Friday like they just saw LeBron James jam the ball through the basket with rim-shaking force, or Anthony Davis reject a Phoenix Suns dunk attempt.
Neither actually happened.
The multitaskers in the building just watched Freddie Freeman’s perfect left-handed swing send a baseball over the Dodger Stadium wall, the World Series Game 1 walk-off getting Crypto.com Arena as loud as it had been all night.
Then, it was the Lakers’ turn to ignite that excitement.
Like he did in the season opener, Davis played like the best player on the court, the fans chanting “M-V-P” for him in the fourth quarter like he just took the New York Yankees’ Nestor Cortes deep. Davis dominated the Suns, outpacing Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, helping his Lakers come back from 22 points down in a 123-116 win.
It’s first time the Lakers have opened the season with consecutive wins since the 2010-11 season. Davis scored 36 points after scoring 35 in the opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, back-to-back dominant games against two of the Western Conference favorites.
Unlike the opener, the Lakers gave Davis air support from the outside, making 14 of 27 shots from three-point range, including 13 for 22 after the first quarter. They withstood the Suns’ hot shooting early to begin their climb back into the game starting late in the second.
Davis’ blocked shot just before halftime gave the Lakers momentum into the third quarter when James and Reaves got hot from deep and opened the inside for Davis.
James helped seal the game late with two assists — one to Gabe Vincent for a layup and one to Rui Hachimura for a three — to get the crowd to pop again.
The Lakers host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
Unlike the Dodgers, three more wins won’t get the job done. But as far as starts go, it’d be hard to ask for more.