The Portland Trail Blazers took down the Los Angeles Lakers 136-129 on Tuesday evening to improve to 3-0 on the season. A flurry from behind the arc to end the game helped Portland jump out to a lead and hold it through the final minutes.
The Blazers were led in scoring by Ja Morant and Deni Avdija, who finished with 23 points each. Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard finished with 22 and 21 points respectively.
The Lakers were led by 41 points from Luka Doncic. He was helped by Austin Reaves, who ended
with 26 points in the game.
Here’s what stood out during the game:
Foul Trouble For Key Players
Avdija picked up his third foul of the first half with just under six minutes remaining. However, he remained in the game instead of sitting the rest of the half. That lead to his fourth foul coming just three minutes later. Toumani Camara joined him on four fouls early in the third quarter, and Walker Kessler became the third player with four fouls shortly after. Both teams were playing with a lot of physicality, but had to adjust the defensive game plan slightly to adjust.
The amount of fouls also led to quite a few free throws being shot. However, the Blazers were unable to fully take advantage of the extra chances, making just 63.4% of their attempts from the line in the game. Los Angeles, on the other hand, made 73.3% of their free throws.
Luka Magic
Doncic was incredible right from the tip. He scored 16 points in the first quarter alone, assisting on 8 more, ultimately responsible for 24 of the Lakers’ 38 first quarter points. From there, he never slowed down. Portland didn’t have any answers for the superstar. Every time he was on the court, he was the fulcrum of the offense and dominant. The Blazers had to take advantage of his time on the bench to be able to get and maintain momentum in the contest.
In the fourth quarter, Doncic wasn’t able to keep up the same level of dominance, scoring just 5 points as the Lakers let Portland take control at the end of the contest.
Uncommon Calls Near The End Of The Game
This game featured four defensive three-second calls and three flopping technical fouls. The three-second calls were mostly in the first half. But all three flopping calls occurred in the final six minutes of the game, including back-to-back possessions where Ja Morant and Ziaire Williams were called for flopping.
The weirdness of all the calls made what came next even more exciting. The two teams traded threes and made baskets down the stretch, but the Blazers were able to pull away on the back of a couple of classic clutch makes from Lillard, including the dagger with 43 seconds remaining in the contest.
Up Next
Boxscore
The Blazers are back at home to face the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, October 29 at 7:00 p.m.
