Trail Blazers Take Down Lakers in LA

SB Nation

The second game of a road back-to-back isn’t always going to look pretty, but the Portland Trail Blazers managed to take care of business Monday night against an already injury-plagued Los Angeles Lakers

squad.

Despite barely fielding a full rotation of able bodies, Los Angeles hung close the whole game and forced the Blazers to try and come up with an answer for Austin Reeves, who for the second straight night looked like that if you squinted you might just see Jerry West. Once the Chosen One act was figured out (or just tired out) Portland was able to get out of Tinseltown with a 122-108 victory.

Player of Note

While it was another cold shooting night for the team overall, Jrue Holiday was the Blazers’ most consistent source of offense from start to finish – especially from the outside. The veteran finished with 24 points – including 4-7 from deep, to go along with 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks.

Stat of the Night

14-43 isn’t exactly a stellar performance from beyond the arc, but compared to the Lakers’ paltry 7-27 it is downright futuristic. This allowed Portland to hold an advantage despite allowing nearly twice as many free throws and being outscored 19-9 off the fast break.

What We Noticed

It would be remiss to not discuss Deandre Ayton, who managed to be one of the few recognizable Lakers healthy enough to take the court tonight against his former team. While the matchup with Donovan Clingan didn’t deliver many fireworks, it still pretty well encapsulated why the Blazers were willing to pay Ayton to play literally anywhere else than in Portland.

Clingan owned the glass, hauling in a game-high 14 boards to go along with 16 points and 2 blocks for his first double-double of the season. He was also a team-best +21 (tying Holiday) in just 26 minutes of action.

It wasn’t total HumiliAyton – Ayton finished with a respectable 16 points and 8 rebounds – but it was hardly a revenge game either.