A back-and-forth battle between the Lakers and Blazers saw a flurry of big shots down the stretch before a dagger from Damian Lillard gave Portland a 136-129 win, handing LA its first loss.
The Lakers struggled defensively, allowing Portland to make 59% of their shots, including 18 threes on 36 attempts. The game was marred by fouls throughout with 52 being called and 71 free throws attempted.
Austin Reaves drained a triple to get LA on the board. Matisse Thybulle followed it with a layup that put
Los Angeles up by five. Ja Morant was the first Blazer to score, converting on a midrange jumper. Luka Dončić knocked down a three on the other end.
Damian Lillard knocked down a 3-pointer, but after four straight points from LA, Portland called a timeout. Out of the break, Morant was fouled and converted on a pair of free throws. Luka continued his great quarter, pushing his point total to 12.
At the 6:03 mark, Los Angeles was up by seven.
Sandro Mamukelashvili came in and drained his first 3-point attempt. The Blazers, though, had cut the deficit to three. The Lakers answered by pushing their lead back to seven. Mamu had five off the bench for LA.
Neither team’s defense was particularly strong, making it an offensive affair. Los Angeles was up by six at the end of the first.
Donovan Clingan drained a triple to start the second period. Collin Sexton responded with a midrange jumper. Portland tied the game with a 16-6 scoring run.
Reaves scored four in a row to give LA the lead again.
Sexton connected with Ziaire Williams for an impressive alley-oop dunk. Deni Avdija then scored four straight to put the Blazers ahead. Morant scored again, pushing his point total to 15. After Jrue Holiday drained a triple, Los Angeles called a timeout.
Out of the break, Luka was fouled and completed the three-point play.
The rest of the half involved lots of free throws and the lead being exchanged. Mamu drained a three that put LA up by one with 35 seconds left. Holiday was assessed a flagrant foul penalty-1 for a foul on Walker Kessler, who split the free throws.
Mamu knocked down a clutch three at the buzzer to give Los Angeles a five-point halftime lead.
Reaves and Luka drained 3-pointers to start the third period. Toumani Camara got Portland on the board with a triple. It was a 3-pointer party as Luka and Camara each made one. Lillard was fouled from behind the arc and converted on only one of three free throws.
At the 8:33 mark, LA was up by five.
Kessler scored back-to-back buckets before Clingan and Luka exchanged triples. After four straight points from the Trail Blazers, the Lakers held a three-point lead in an offensive battle.
Thybulle knocked down his second three of the night.
Luka and Reaves quickly scored five points, leading to a Blazers timeout. Jake LaRavia fouled Vít Krejčí on a three out of the break, but he made just one of three free throws. Luka connected with Sexton twice on backdoor baseline cuts.
The quarter ended with chaos of sloppy turnovers and missed shots. Robert Williams III got a shot off right at the buzzer to make it a one-point deficit for Portland at the end of the third.
The final frame started with Avdija tying the game with a free throw. It was the seventh tie of the game. Sexton connected with LaRavia for a dunk, putting Los Angeles up by two. The Trail Blazers started to take control, growing the lead to five with 8:29 left.
LA called a timeout and out of the break, Thybulle missed a three.
Los Angeles started 0-6 from behind the arc in the quarter. Avdija then nailed a three at the other end, extending the Blazers’ lead. The Lakers ignited for a 6-0 scoring run to make it a two-point game with 6:44 left.
The lead started to change hands again as both teams were cooking offensively. Williams and Holiday exchanged triples that had Portland up one, but Morant was given a flopping technical foul and Reaves converted on the free throw to tie the game.
Lillard then drained a triple and hit a free throw after Williams was assessed a flopping tech. Luka then drained a ridiculous clutch three with 3:24 left. Avdija answered with a 3-pointer on the other end.
Williams then responded for LA with a three as well. The Blazers were up by one with 2:17 left.
Morant converted on a midrange jumper, putting the Blazers up by three. Kessler was then fouled and missed both free throws. Morant then made another midrange jumper.
Luka converted on a middy with just over a minute left to make it a three-point game again.
It was Dame Time late as Lillard knocked down a clutch triple with 42.8 seconds left to put Portland up six. The Lakers had two opportunities to drain a three and missed.
Key Player Stats
Luka finished with 41 points and nine assists. Reaves ended with 26 points, four rebounds and seven assists. He also dished the 1,500th assist of his career. Kessler notched 13 points and eight rebounds.
Mamu pitched in with a stellar showing of 17 points off the bench. Williams logged 11 points with four assists and two steals. Sexton had nine points with four assists.
The Lakers’ next game will be against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at 7:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
