Both LeBron James and Kevin Durant lived up to the hype they received. The remainder of the Phoenix Suns, on the other hand, less so.

On Thursday, James and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame a 12-point hole in the fourth quarter to overcome the Phoenix Suns 100-95. This was the first time these two superstars had competed against each other in a regular season game in more than five years.

However, it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing game. First of all, Durant’s two most significant teammates on the Suns, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, were both sidelined with injuries, which is not a good development for a club that already had a limited amount of depth to begin with.

The fact that Durant carried the Suns to a double-digit lead by the end of the third quarter made it appear as though this did not matter for the most of the game. In the second game of the season, the projected contenders would have made a huge statement if they had defeated a healthy Lakers team in their own arena. However, the Suns offense completely disintegrated to an unbelievable degree, and they were unable to pull off the victory.

The Suns managed to tally three points between the beginning of the fourth quarter and the last two minutes of play. Three, on a three-pointer from Durant. The Lakers did not have to play at their highest level because they easily won the game. During that 10-minute stretch, they outscored the Suns 19-3, despite the fact that Durant was having an ice cold game and none of his teammates looked like NBA-caliber players offensively.

Poor shooting, poor ball handling, and poor communication throughout the game. It was a string of poor decisions, which is never a good strategy when playing against James and Anthony Davis. The only basket of the quarter came from Jordan Goodwin with ten seconds left on the clock. All other Suns players, with the exception of Kevin, shot a combined 1 for 9 from the field in the period.

When it mattered most, Durant got going to keep the Suns in it, but all that did was position James up for the game-winning shot. The Cavaliers went on to win.

James ended the game with 21 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, two steals, two blocks, and five turnovers, while Durant finished with 39 points on 14-of-28 shooting (1-of-4 from 3-point range) and 11 rebounds. James had five turnovers. Durant had two steals and two blocks. The Suns were able to outscore the Lakers by 18 points while he was on the court for 39 minutes, but they were defeated by 23 points when he was taken off the court for nine minutes.

Those who hoped that the Suns had assembled the kind of supporting group that is necessary to get it through games without superstars did not have the best night on Wednesday.

Davis had a tremendous game overall, finishing with 30 points, 13 assists, three blocks, and three thefts. He also had a block and three steals. That is a very harsh response coming from a guy who received a lot of criticism for scoring zero points in the second half of the Lakers’ season-opening defeat to the Denver Nuggets. However, James stated after the game that such criticism didn’t bother Davis:

We don’t give a rat’s behind about the criticism directed at AD. We couldn’t care less. Nothing upsets us at all. It doesn’t matter to AD. I’m not sure if you guys have worked that one out yet. AD is completely uncaring. Because he does not use social media, he is not aware of any of that nonsense. When he does talk, it’s almost always to us. Therefore, we couldn’t care less about it. There is no question about that. Just left his house to perform his duties. We’re thrilled to have him here with us.

The Sacramento Kings will provide another challenge for Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, while the Phoenix Suns have three days to get healthier before taking on the Utah Jazz on the same day.