Royce O’Neale’s late 3 caps Suns’ rally, sinks Lakers

Royce O’Neale made a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining as the host Phoenix Suns overcame a 13-point second-half deficit for a 113-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.

O’Neale gave the Suns a 110-108 lead on the previous possession before LeBron James’ tip-in tied it with 22.7 seconds remaining. The Suns played for one shot, and Grayson Allen drove the lane and kicked it to Collin Gillespie, who found O’Neale wide open on the left wing.

Allen scored 28 points and made six 3-pointers, while Gillespie scored 21 points and also hit six 3-pointers as the Suns overcame a 41-point game from Luka Doncic to win the season series, taking three of the first four with one more matchup April 10 in Los Angeles.

Doncic made six 3-pointers and had eight assists and eight rebounds, finishing short of his seventh triple double-double of the season. He was 12 of 21 from the field and made 11 of 12 free-throw attempts.

O’Neale scored 13 points and had three 3-pointers as the Suns made 22 of 50 shots (44%) from beyond the arc. They had scored 77 and 81 points, respectively, in their previous two games, their lowest totals of the season.

James had 10 of his 15 points in the second half and Marcus Smart had 14 points for the Lakers, who have lost five of seven and are one game ahead of the Suns for the sixth spot in the Western Conference.

Phoenix took a 96-86 lead with 7:43 left on a 13-0 run that included a six-point possession. Gillespie made a 3-pointer and a free throw after former Sun Deandre Ayton was called for a flagrant closeout, returning the ball to the Suns.

Oso Ighodaro completed the possession with a dunk and the Suns pushed their lead to 101-89 — their largest — before the Lakers recovered.

Doncic’s sixth 3-pointer brought the Lakers with 103-101 with three minutes left, before Gillespie countered with his sixth three.

Jake LaRavia made two free throws with 1:29 left to cut the deficit to 108-105, then Austin Reeves’ 3-pointer tied it at 108.

The Lakers scored the first 11 points of the third quarter in a 25-4 run that started midway through the second quarter. Ayton’s dunk, his first points, made it 60-49 with 8:05 left in the third quarter.

–Field Level Media