LOS ANGELES — The highs of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 3-0 start — Luka Dončić‘s high-scoring nights, Walker Kessler’s historic statistics, Austin Reaves’ incredible selflessness — mostly delayed what became their inevitable undoing in Tuesday’s 136-129 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Defense.
The Blazers have personnel that can match Los Angeles’ scoring output on any night. The first time an opponent required the Lakers’ defense to win them a game, trouble arose.
The Lakers kept pace with the Blazers
through the first three quarters, until a 3-point barrage, spearheaded by Damian Lillard and Deni Avdija in the final quarter, lifted Portland overtop. Avdija and Ja Morant finished with 23 points apiece, Jrue Holiday added 22 off the bench and Lillard ended the night with 21.
“We just got broken down a lot,” head coach JJ Redick said postgame. “I thought the game plan discipline, [Know Your Personnel], personnel discipline, wasn’t where it needs to be. Sometimes, early in the season, these are good learning lessons that we can all apply, both as coaches and as players.”
The four Portland ball handlers scored in varying ways all night: Avdija at all three levels, Morant slicing through the defense and finishing in the paint, Holiday as the off-ball savant he is and Lillard in high pick-and-roll actions either burying a moving three or drawing a foul on the shot.
Adding to the Lakers’ woes, guys like Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan shot 6-for-7 combined from beyond the arc.
“It was also an incredible shot-making game,” Redick added. “You have to also factor that in. … We have to be able to rely on our defense every night. And if we score 129 points at home, we should be able to get enough stops to win.”
Kessler, the Lakers’ defensive anchor, was not able to affect the game as he had in the previous three, mostly because much of Portland’s actions came at the perimeter. Even then, he admitted that he still needs to be held accountable as the “linebacker” of the Lakers’ defense.
“Personally, I’ve got to do a better job at pursuing the ball,” he said. “Being more aggressive to attack the ball. We kind of got it back a little bit in the second half … I’ve got to start that way, being more aggressive. But we’ll figure it out.”
This team’s detractors knew a night like this would come. They talked about it all offseason. The Lakers would have to outscore their opponents every night. For a few moments through the first three games, Los Angeles was able to put up at least a quarter of competent, momentum-shifting defense.
But on a night where the opposing team was able to keep pace with Dončić’s 41 points and nine assists, Reaves’ uber-efficient 26 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili’s 16 off the bench, the defense just wasn’t there.
Early in the season, it’s still seen as a problem that can be solved. But the Lakers saw firsthand what will happen in the most important games if a solution isn’t found.
You can follow Connor on Twitter at @cmorenoNBA.
