This season, the Phoenix Suns have responded to start a game surprisingly infrequently given some of the setbacks they’ve endured.

But for whatever reason, following two consecutive losses, they appeared to be a team eager to disprove that notion going into their nationally televised game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, defeating them 127-109.

There was concentration, execution, and effort. It might come out of nowhere sometimes, like Thursday, but Phoenix’s key contributors have all been there long enough to know what it takes in those aspects.

The offensive of Phoenix (20-18) was aggressive in its schematic targeting of Los Angeles’s weak points. When fully focused, LeBron James is still an excellent defender at his age, but in recent years, he has been known to let go of the ball. Since he was marking Grayson Allen, the Suns’ first few plays involved the shooter moving around to make it difficult for James to stay in contact. Austin Reaves is a frequent target, and Phoenix frequently pitted him against a Big 3 player.

In contrast, the Lakers’ (19–20) offense was both tragic and lifeless. Phoenix maintained a strong offensive pace and led by as much as 17 points thanks to good intensity on that end.

As a scorer, Devin Booker led the way, scoring 17 of his 31 points. Booker scored double digits in the first quarter for the fourth time this season, which is a hallmark of his game and something he accomplished 49 times the previous two years. When an opponent puts a scrappy, youthful defender on Booker who is eager to establish himself, he really got going and picked on Lakers second-year player Max Christie. Christie is the most recent in a trend over Booker’s career of playing with a bravado of “seriously, this guy?”

During the second quarter—which has been particularly erratic lately—Los Angeles battled back to reach within six, and the lead was eventually increased to 14. After the Lakers answered the initial blow, Booker checked back in and the Suns maintained that range for the remainder of the half, raising the question of whether they had another in them given the dubious vibes they now possess.

The Lakers attempted a couple defensive tweaks against the Suns to start the second half, including overloading Booker and putting elite perimeter defender Jarred Vanderbilt in his path. In response, they used it to further facilitate a two-man game between Bradley Beal and Durant, who Phoenix should use more frequently because Beal’s screener role is one of his many underutilized strengths. Phoenix essentially made the two trades because it worked well.

A little more than six minutes into the second half, Phoenix led by twenty-five points and continued to do so because to the Lakers’ inability to mount a meaningful comeback.

With 20 of his 37 points coming in the third quarter, Beal was the one who settled into a groove. This was his second stellar performance in the past week, a sign that he is regaining his form as one of the solar system’s top two-guards.

Phoenix’s historically dismal fourth-quarter performance this season made a brief appearance when the Lakers defeated L.A. within 19 points thanks to a 10-0 surge in the first part of the quarter while James and Anthony Davis were off the court. To allay any worries, though, Beal made his seventh and eighth 3-pointers of the game to start garbage time.

Frank Vogel, the head coach of the Suns, tightened up his rotation and now plays with eight players. Josh Okogie played on the wing, and Eric Gordon and Bol Bol alternated in the guard and frontcourt rotations, respectively, throughout the majority of the game. Although Bol was occasionally used at the 5 when both centers were sitting, Vogel has been playing Udoka Azubuike in small pockets as the backup center. This meant that Chimezie Metu, who has been playing well, would not be able to play full minutes with a Big 3.

In 32 minutes on 7 of 12 shooting, Durant finished with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals, a block, and no turnovers. With Beal’s two steals and Booker’s three more, the big three combined for nine steals. Their great degree of intent on both ends of the floor is well captured by that number.

Despite a combined 2-for-15 effort from 3 for Allen (1-of-6) and Gordon (1-for-9), Phoenix was still able to have a fantastic offensive night.

Davis scored 13 points while James shot 3 of 11 for 10.