It was not a good first half for the Phoenix Suns as they were down 54-37 and couldn't get anything going on either side of the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers. Stephen A. Smith was not a fan of how the Suns were playing and issued a message to the viewers during halftime.
“We aired this game on national television; this is our network,” Smith said. “If there was not a second half to go where they had an opportunity to make amends, I would encourage us to give a public apology to a national audience for that atrocity we saw in the first half. No effort whatsoever, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
"The Phoenix Suns resembled a little kid that was placed on punishment by his parents and assigned to do chores. That's how they made playing the game of basketball look in the first half."
Stephen A. Smith RIPPED on the Suns on the halftime show 👀pic.twitter.com/7rwvCHdKED
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 16, 2025
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“The Phoenix Suns resembled a little kid that was placed on punishment by his parents and assigned to do chores. That's how they made playing the game of basketball look in the first half.”
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Kevin Durant shot poorly in the first half, and as a team, the Suns were leaving the Lakers wide open for shots. If they want any chance of winning the game, those two are going to have to change throughout the second half.
The Suns are trying to get some wins down this stretch with them being on the outside looking in of the Play-In tournament. It's been a rough season for the Suns, and the only way they can salvage some of it is if they can find themselves in the postseason at the end of the year.
The Lakers were one of the hottest teams in the league before LeBron James went down with a groin injury and has been out for the past week. There's a chance that he'll miss another week as he recovers, and the hope is that the Lakers can get back to how they were playing when they were second in the Western Conference.