A huge third-quarter run from the Lakers helped overturn a woeful first half and send the Lakers to a 124-118 win over the Blazers.
Luka Dončić was brilliant yet again with another scoring outburst, including 20 in that second period to finish with 53.
The Lakers opened up a double-digit lead in the second half before the Blazers tightened it up in the fourth. Some timely baskets from Luka, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler in the final two minutes helped the purple and gold hang onto the win.
LA only
committed 11 turnovers while forcing the Blazers into 24, turning those into 28 points.
LA started the game missing their first six shots, an omen for the first half. Luka was the only Laker to score, putting up four points. Austin Reaves was 0-5 from the field. Portland started heating up with evenly distributed scoring from their starting lineup.
At the 7:02 mark, the Trail Blazers led by six.
The Lakers continued to struggle offensively, shooting an atrocious 29% from the field. They were also 0-10 from behind the arc. Nothing seemed to click for the team as they also looked lethargic defensively. Deni Avdija, meanwhile, led the Blazers with six points.
Adou Thiero saw his first minutes of the season and dazzled with two dunks. At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down by nine.
Los Angeles tried to get Walker Kessler involved early in the second period, leading to six points. The Lakers were 0-14 from behind the arc, with a few shots being wide-open attempts.
Jake LaRavia was the first Laker to drain a much-needed triple finally. Luka knocked down the second one. The team still played from behind, but managed to cut the deficit down to 10 with 2:55 left in the half.
LA went into halftime down seven on the shoulders of Luka’s buzzer-beater triple from the opposite free throw line and a combined 10 points from him, Reaves and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Portland was on a four-minute scoring drought at the start of the third period. Los Angeles extended their lead to double digits. Donovan Clingan stopped the drought by scoring five in a row.
LA’s Big 3 began to take over as Luka tied the game with 4:46 left with seven straight points. Kessler and Reaves were both in double figures with 10 and 12, respectively.
The purple and gold used a 12-0 run to take the lead.
Luka continued his incredible play, pushing his point total to 31. The team was shooting 53% from the field. The rest of the quarter was all Lakers and Luka. Ziaire Williams knocked down a triple, his second of the game, to give him eight points off the bench.
Los Angeles ended the quarter on a 26-7 run and led by 12.
The final frame began with a midrange jumper from Reaves. Luka got his usual fourth-quarter rest and the Lakers struggled without him. Reaves put up four points, but the rest of the team played rough offensively.
Portland responded with a 10-0 run, led by Jrue Holiday, Clingan, Avdija, and Damian Lillard. Los Angeles’ lead had dipped down to six.
Once Luka got back into the game, the energy shifted back in LA’s favor as he converted a jumper. LaRavia and Reaves drained back-to-back triples, pushing the lead up to double digits with 5:25 left.
Luka was now at 49 points and was carrying the team, keeping them up by double digits with 3:11 left. Portland was still shooting well, though, at 57% in the quarter.
In true Hollywood fashion, the Lakers turned the ball over three times in a row, leading to the Blazers making it a five-point deficit with under two minutes left.
Reaves put LA up seven with 1:25 left before Toumani Camara drained a triple. Kessler was wide open for a dunk off an inbound, giving Los Angeles some cushion again.
A pair of free throws from Lillard made it a four-point game again with 50 seconds left. Luka then scored on a jumper, putting the Lakers up six with 27.7 left.
Reaves stole the ball and took it all the way to the basket for a dunk. On the other end, Camara made another triple. Reaves and Luka iced the game at the line.
Key Player Stats
Luka finished with 53 points, five rebounds and five assists. Reaves ended with 25 points, shooting 8-22 from the field. Kessler had 16 points with 12 rebounds.
Mamu notched seven points off the bench. Thiero logged four points with four rebounds and two assists in his debut.
LaRavia scored seven points with eight rebounds. Williams pitched in with eight points and three rebounds.
The Lakers’ next game will be against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at 3:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
