Bradley Beal scores 37 as Suns roll past Lakers

Bradley Beal scored a season-high 37 points, Devin Booker added 31 and the visiting Phoenix Suns used a fast start to earn a 127-109 victory Thursday over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kevin Durant scored 18 points and Jusuf Nurkic added nine points and 12 rebounds as the Suns defeated the Lakers for the first time in four tries this season. The teams will play one more time, Feb. 25 at Phoenix.

Beal went 8-of-10 from 3-point range, 14-of-21 overall and scored 26 points in the second half as the Suns won for the sixth time in their last nine games.

D'Angelo Russell scored 19 points and Max Christie added 14 for the Lakers, who lost for the fifth time in their last seven games. They entered Friday having won consecutive games for the first time in a month.

Anthony Davis and LeBron James were held to 13 and 10 points, respectively, as the Lakers fell to 2-3 during a stretch when they play 10 of 11 games at home.

The Suns meant business early, scoring the first six points of the game and taking a 24-14 lead just over six minutes into the contest. Phoenix led 36-25 after one quarter and was up 66-52 at halftime as Booker entered the break 9-of-16 from the floor with 23 points.

The Suns led by as many as 17 in the first half and took their first 20-point lead at 80-60 with 7:30 remaining in the third quarter on three free throws from Booker.

Phoenix used a 14-1 run in the third quarter to take an 88-61 lead and were never threatened from there. The Suns were up 31 with two minutes left in the third and entered the final period with a 105-78 advantage.

The Suns allowed the Lakers to shoot 50 percent from the floor, one game after the Clippers shot 62.4 percent against Phoenix in a 138-111 defeat on Monday.