National Basketball Association

NBA world reacts to Suns' stunning elimination of defending champ Lakers

Updated Jun. 4, 2021 2:33 a.m. ET

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There was hope in Hollywood.

Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers were facing elimination, trailing the 2-seed Phoenix Suns 3-2 as they headed to Game 6 of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

But they were on their home court and LeBron James had a history of winning elimination games. Best of all, Anthony Davis was coming back.

Then, in the blink of an eye, it all fell apart.

The first sign of trouble was Davis’ movement or lack thereof. He simply didn’t look like himself, often grimacing in pain. 

After five minutes of play, in which he had a rebound and an assist but didn’t take a shot, Davis left the court and didn’t return.

The other problem for the Lakers was Devin Booker. They couldn’t do anything with the Suns’ 24-year-old All-Star guard. Forget about stopping him, they couldn’t even slow him down in the first quarter.

Booker did a lot of impressive things in the opening period, but it could all be summed up by one stat: 22-14. That’s how many points by which he outscored the Lakers all by himself as his Suns ran out to a 36-14 lead.

By halftime, Booker had scored 33 points, including cashing in on seven of his eight 3-point attempts, as the Suns pushed their lead to 62-41.

The Lakers showed some life in the third quarter, rallying within 79-67. But those kinds of rallies require a lot of energy, and Los Angeles would have to do it without Davis.

In the end, Booker scored 47 points, tied for the third-highest scoring outpoint in franchise history, before being ejected with 30 seconds remaining. The Suns went on to win 113-100 to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. And he received a gift from LeBron for his efforts.

The shocking elimination of the defending champions drew reaction from across the NBA.

Here are some of our favorites.

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National Basketball Association

Los Angeles Lakers

Phoenix Suns

Devin Booker

LeBron James

Anthony Davis

Chris Paul