With a comfortable wire-to-wire 113-110 Game 6 victory, the Phoenix Suns eliminated the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
The 4-2 series loss was LeBron James' first-ever in the first round of the playoffs, snapping his streak of 14 straight playoff victories in the first round dating back to 2006.
"Records, if that's a record or if it's not, they are always meant to be broken," James said postgame.
"In that fashion, it doesn't matter to me as far as not making it out of the first round. What matters to me is getting this team back healthy."
Even though the final score might not say so, James and the Lakers didn't let up easy.
The Lakers trailed by as many as 30 points in the 1st half of Game 5 and 29 points in the 1st half of Game 6.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 4, 2021
Those are the 2 largest 1st-half deficits in LeBron James’ playoff career.
This is his 266th career playoff game. pic.twitter.com/iCFQjVi4i5
They came out after halftime, after trailing by as many as 29 in the first half, and brought the deficit to as few as 10 but could never pull into single digits and make a game-changing run.
"Monty Williams, Book and that team, they were excellent throughout the series," James said postgame. "All of them, much respect.
MORE: Offseason Outlook - What's next for the Lakers?
Devin Booker led from Suns from the front in this one, erupting for a playoff career-high 47, 22 of which came in the first quarter.
Continue to be great... pic.twitter.com/NIPCrDVSao
— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2021
The loss makes the Lakers the seventh defending champ to bow out of the following postseason in the first round.
"The one thing that bothers me more than anything is we never got to see our full team," James said, reflecting on the season and looking ahead. "Time to readjust and see what the offseason has in store," James said looking ahead.
Calling this season 'draining' after the short offseason, the four-time NBA Champion also admitted that his ankle 'never got back' to where it was prior to the injury.
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