That was a close one! The Los Angeles Lakers (4-5) have won the Portland Trail Blazers (6-3) with 114.110 – but much more trembling than necessary. The Lakers almost lost a 20-point lead in the last quarter.
After reports of disagreements between the Lakers’ front office and Luke Walton, the head coach was the focus of much attention at the start of the game, but he didn’t let on and sent the same Starting Five on the court, who had just won against Dallas. His players were more nervous – the Lakers directly suffered some absolutely hair-raising ball losses in the first minutes. As a result, the Lakers were 10 points behind for the first time after just eight minutes. Portland did a 17-2 run.
But this dominance didn’t last long, the Lakers were back until the end of the first quarter thanks to LeBron James and their bank – and in the second the Lakers took control for a short time. Especially Rajon Rondo attracted attention during this phase with several good scenes, on the other side Al-Farouq Aminu. It quickly developed into an open exchange of blows with spectacular scenes, but also ball losses on both sides. Portland led to the break with 57:56.
The Lakers then got better out of the starting blocks again, especially as the Blazers lost a little of their precision. Lance Stephenson increased the lead to 10, Josh Hart netted the 13-point lead, Ivica Zubac made it 15 – over several minutes the basket for Portland seemed nailed up. After a jumper by Evan Turner it went with 73:88 from Portland view into the last run, after the third was lost with 16:32.
While the starters were still sitting outside, the Lakers even increased their lead to 20 points at the beginning of the last quarter. But with the return of Lillard, McCollum, Nurkic and Co., the Blazers finally found their way back into the game and suddenly the Lakers were desolate: ball loss followed ball loss and there was no remedy against Lillard and Nurkic. Three and a half minutes before the end, the pressure was back on the Lakers with only 6 points left in the lead.
Now it was LeBron’s and McCollum’s turn with two baskets, before James Nurkic blocked and a small pack was formed. Nurkic was allowed to get to the line, but hit only one, 5 points behind. 28 seconds before the end James McGee served under the basket – 7 points ahead for the Lakers. Just 10 seconds before the end, LeBron’s free throws finally made the decision for the guests.
James was also the top scorer of his team with 28 points (plus 7 assists), while Rondo scored 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists – while McGee delivered 12 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks. In the Blazers, Lillard and McCollum each scored 30 points.
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Lakers 110:114 (BOXSCORE)
Rajon Rondo. The bank won the Lakers this game and Rondo was clearly their leader and most important player. More than usual the Point Guard attacked the basket himself and hit almost everything, his strengths in rebounding and passing have rarely been questioned anyway. Even if his step error in the Crunchtime the Lakers nearly still expensive to stand would have come.
The bank of Blazers, especially Seth Curry (0 points) and Nik Stauskas (3). There was no relief at all from the two guards in this game. The missing offense of the bank lineups made the Blazers fall into a hole in the first place – and not even the strong Lillard and McCollum were able to get them out again, although they almost managed to do it in the end.
Ivica Zubac had seen a total of seven minutes in this season so far, altogether. In this game, however, Walton brought the center as a nominal McGee backup and let him play a lot – this paid off especially on the offensive board. Zubac worked well for rebounds and gave the Lakers several second chances against the somewhat smaller Big Men squad of the Blazers.