PHOENIX — LeBron James and Anthony Davis showed why they’re two of the top five players in the NBA when it mattered most Tuesday.
With the Phoenix Suns erasing a 15-point deficit, the defending NBA champions were in danger of falling behind 2-0 going back to Los Angeles.
Then James and Davis delivered.
Scoring a combined 55 points, the All-Star duo made key plays down the stretch in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 109-102 win before a sellout crowd of 11,919 at Phoenix Suns Arena to knot the best-of-7 series at 1-1.
Davis scored a game-high 34 while James added 23 as the Lakers responded to Sunday’s Game 1 loss in limiting the Suns to 30.8% shooting from 3. Game 3 is Thursday in Los Angeles.
With the Lakers up one, Davis made a weakside block on Deandre Ayton, who had the much shorter Alex Caruso defending him in the post with 3:15 left.
On the ensuing possession, James hit a jumper to make the difference three, 95-92.
Then after Devin Booker missed a jumper, Davis made a 3 to put the Lakers up 98-92 with 2:15 left.
James put the final touches on the Lakers’ win with a 3 to extend their lead to 103-94 with 49.8 seconds left.
Booker scored a team-high 31 as Chris Paul wasn’t himself with the right shoulder injury he suffered in Game 1. The 16-year veteran finished with six points in 23 minutes.
Ayton added 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Follow Duane Rankin on Twitter @DuaneRankin.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lakers bounce back to beat Suns in Game 2 and even series