Lakers star Luka Doncic, right, looks on with assistant coach Scott Brooks during a timeout in the first half of their preseason opener against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers, playing without Doncic, LeBron James and several rotation players, lost, 103-81. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
Lakers forward Jake LaRavia, left, grabs a rebound away from Phoenix Suns center Nick Richards, center, as center Jaxson Hayes reaches in during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers center Deandre Ayton, right, shoots as Phoenix Suns center Oso Ighodaro defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Lakers’ Nate Williams, back, grabs a rebound away from Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, left, shoots as Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, left, holds the ball as Lakers guard Bronny James defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, left, shoots as Phoenix Suns guard Jared Butler defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen, left, and Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt go after a loose ball during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers guard Bronny James, left, shoots as Phoenix Suns forward Ryan Dunn defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen, right, shoots as Lakers center Jaxson Hayes defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers forwards Jarred Vanderbilt, left, LeBron James, center, and Rui Hachimura look on during a timeout in the second half of their preseason opener against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers, playing without James, Luka Doncic and several rotation players, lost, 103-81. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
The Lakers’ Deandre Ayton shoots as, from left, Phoenix’s Ryan Dunn, left, Oso Ighodaro and Devin Booker defend during the first half of their preseason opener Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt, left, is hit in the face by Phoenix Suns guard Collin Gillespie as they go after a rebound during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, left, shoots as Phoenix Suns guard Jared Butler defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, left, shoots as Lakers forward Jake LaRavia defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, left, shoots as Phoenix Suns forward Royce O’Neale defends during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Phoenix Suns center Nick Richards, left, and Lakers center Jaxson Hayes go after a rebound during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lakers center Kylor Kelley, left, goes after a rebound along with Phoenix Suns forward Royce O’Neale, center, and center Oso Ighodaro during the first half of their preseason opener on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Palm Desert. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Lakers’ Dalton Knecht shoots as the Phoenix Suns’ Dillon Brooks (3) defends during the second half of their preseason opener on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers, playing without LeBron James, Luka Doncic and several rotation players, lost, 103-81. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives as the Phoenix Suns’ Oso Ighodaro, left, defends during the second half of their preseason opener on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers, playing without LeBron James, Luka Doncic and several rotation players, lost, 103-81. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
Lakers guard RJ Davis drives as the Phoenix Suns’ David Duke Jr. defends during the second half of their preseason opener on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers, playing without LeBron James, Luka Doncic and several rotation players, lost, 103-81. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives as the Phoenix Suns’ Oso Ighodaro defends during the second half of their preseason opener on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers, playing without LeBron James, Luka Doncic and several rotation players, lost, 103-81. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
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Lakers star Luka Doncic, right, looks on with assistant coach Scott Brooks during a timeout in the first half of their preseason opener against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Lakers, playing without Doncic, LeBron James and several rotation players, lost, 103-81. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
PALM DESERT — Until the regular season starts on Oct. 21, any takeaway from the Lakers’ six exhibition games will come with the obvious caveat that it’s “just” the preseason.
And that was especially the case on Friday night, with the Lakers being without their top two stars in Luka Doncic and LeBron James during their 103-81 loss to the Phoenix Suns at Acrisure Arena.
But the Lakers being short-handed – missing three other potential rotation players in addition to Doncic and James – didn’t make Friday meaningless.
As Coach JJ Redick put it, it was their first opportunity to establish and build their competitive edge. To reinforce certain training camp emphases that are aligned with Redick’s “championship shape” mantra, such as pushing the pace and sprinting back defensively.
And Friday made it clear the Lakers have plenty to improve on.
“Three things: run, talk, compete,” Redick said of the emphases going into Friday. “Given the workload of the [previous] three days, our ability to run and play hard was pretty good. Our talk was not good. The stretch at the end of the first quarter [and] to start the third was non-competitive.
“Again, I’m not expecting perfection in a preseason game, but there’s room for growth in those areas.”
The Lakers’ offensive rust was understandable for their first competitive game in more than five months, with multiple players bobbling passes or missing easy looks at the rim, resulting in the team shooting 31.1% (23 for 74) from the field.
But the Suns out-hustled the Lakers in transition, especially during a third quarter that Phoenix dominated 30-18 to swing the game in its favor. The Suns broke the game open after a Devin Booker pull-up 3-pointer gave Phoenix a 70-47 lead midway through the quarter, with Redick starting to take his main rotation players soon afterward.
Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, making all five of his 2-point attempts, in 21 minutes.
“It felt good,” Reaves said. “[Assistant coach Greg St. Jean] told me twice already that I looked quick and those might be the only two times I’ve ever been told that. So, it feels good. But I’m just happy to be out there playing basketball again with these guys.”
Rui Hachimura scored 11 points but on inefficient shooting (3 for 12). Jake LaRavia added seven points on 3-for-6 shooting.
Starting center Deandre Ayton finished with one point, missed both of his field goal attempts and had four turnovers, but he also blocked a pair of shots in 18 minutes.
“I wanted to show the team I’m more committed on the defensive end more than the offense in a way,” Ayton said. “Like I say from the get-go, I’m not really here for numbers. I’m just here for whatever the Lakers really want me to do. And the main objective is really protecting that rim and closing out our possessions. And I had fun man, just blocking some shots, just being that anchor and seeing how the guys responded to me.”
Ayton added: “This is where it counts. Everything matters. It don’t even matter if you shooting, scoring. You got Luka Doncic, you got LeBron James and Austin Reaves. You trust those playmakers. And if you get more than two shots, then that was how the game’s supposed to go. JJ is trusting these dudes to be our main primary ball handlers and me being the big man in the paint. I’m absorbing all of that. It [will] probably be hard not to touch the ball with them great playmakers, to be honest.”
In a game in which the Lakers generally struggled on the less glamorous end of the court, forward Jarred Vanderbilt was a positive standout with his hustle, disruption and quickness.
“He was a bright spot,” Redick said. “His physicality, disruption defensively, as he builds this level of conditioning, I expect him to be an elite offensive rebounder for us this year.”
While Vanderbilt missed all three of his 3-point attempts, he didn’t hesitate on any of the looks like he might have in previous seasons.
“He’s really worked on his shot,” Redick added. “I know it didn’t show, but he’s worked on his shot. He’s getting more and more comfortable shooting spot-up 3s. So I expect him to be an impact player for us.”
Booker led the Suns with 24 points and seven assists in 25 minutes. Grayson Allen added 13 points, while Dillon Brooks had 10 points and three assists.
Phoenix outscored the Lakers 19-6 in fast-break points, taking advantage of the Lakers’ 21 giveaways, which the Suns converted into 27 points.
Second-year players Dalton Knecht (six points on 2-of-10 shooting to go with six rebounds) and Bronny James (eight points on 1-of-12 shooting) struggled offensively.
“I felt like they were pretty good shots,” James said of his shot selection. “I didn’t rush, wasn’t forcing anything. I didn’t have my legs under me as much as I wanted to, so I left a lot of them short. But most of them were on line and I felt like I could have made them. I took some good shots.”
Training camp signee R.J. Davis led the Lakers’ reserves with 14 points.
The team said on Friday morning that Doncic wouldn’t play in this weekend’s preseason games, including Sunday in San Francisco against the Golden State Warriors.
The decision was a collaborative one with the team’s performance staff after Doncic’s EuroBasket run with Slovenia this summer, which ended with a loss to eventual gold medalist Germany in the quarterfinals on Sept. 10.
But Redick assured that Doncic will play in an exhibition game in the next few weeks.
“We’re gonna use next week to continue to just get him in a good spot, with his body and his energy and all that stuff,” Redick said of Doncic. “He was great the first two days at camp; it was a lot. It made sense, given his workload this summer, to just kind of pull back. He’s in a great place physically and mentally. We’ll just continue to use next week to just get him ramped up and get all the guys acclimated with him.”
James wasn’t available Friday after being a limited participant during training camp this past week because of nerve irritation in his glute.
The Lakers are taking a “little bit longer of a ramp-up” toward the regular-season opener against the Warriors with James, who turns 41 in December and is entering an unprecedented 23rd NBA season.
“For him, it’s different in Year 23,” Redick said of James. “A normal return-to-play protocol, we try to get 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on-3 exposures versus coaches. And that eventually gets to 3-on-3 live. He knows his body. And so we’ll work with him. We’ll work with [James’ longtime trainer] Mike [Mancias] on making sure he gets a point of comfort where he can sort of be a full participant. But he’s been on the court every day. He’s been in the weight room, continuing to get his body ready. He’s been doing his individual workouts with St. Jean.”
The Lakers have four more preseason games after this weekend: vs. the Warriors on Oct. 12 at Crypto.com Arena; at the Suns on Oct. 14 in Phoenix; vs. the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 15 in Las Vegas; and vs. the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 17 in Los Angeles.
Redick said the team has targeted two games later in the preseason for a “dress rehearsal,” but added that it’s out of his control whether he’ll have what he hopes will be his Day One rotation available for those games.
Marcus Smart (Achilles tendinopathy), rookie Adou Thiero (left knee swelling) and Maxi Kleber (quad injury) were also sidelined on Friday. Gabe Vincent, who was expected to be available, was in street clothes on the bench.
“That will be sort of full game planning, prep,” Redick said. “Our pregame meeting, what [does] that [look] like on our coverage board. [Head video coordinator Michael Wexler] and I have talked about, ‘What do we want our pregame meeting to look and feel and sound like?’ So, making some small tweaks on that stuff.
“So those will happen later in the preseason. Yes, in terms of the roster and lineups, we would like to have everybody available for those rehearsals, but that part of it is completely out of my control.”
Originally Published: October 3, 2025 at 11:43 AM PDT