The Portland Trail Blazers played a really nice first half against the Los Angeles Lakers in NBA Cup action on Friday night. Portland had the game, and the opponent, under control, with a good rhythm, accurate shot-making, and active defense. It looked for all the world like their seventh win on the young season, the second against Los Angeles in as many attempts.
Two things conspired against them, though: brilliant play by Luka Doncic and a tepid second half. The Blazers kept contact intermittently
in the final two quarters. They didn’t roll over. But they couldn’t contain Doncic and the Lakers, ultimately falling 124-118.
Doncic led all scorers with and astounding 53 points. Deni Avdija and Damian Lillard propelled Portland with 22 apiece.
Here are the observations from the game.
Pace
The Lakers came out with a commitment to play like their famous 1980’s teams of old. No, they didn’t run like the Showtime Lakers…rather like Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Byron Scott, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would if they suited up today. L.A. walked the ball up the court, trying to set up the halfcourt offense, every motion measured.
Portland, by contrast, grabbed the ball off of the glass and ran for quick attempts. They drove the lane. If a layup or foul didn’t present itself, they made one, perhaps two, passes for a three.
It was super clear what style each team wanted to play. It was also quite clear that the Blazers were dominating in their approach, with Los Angeles looking like they were playing in the Stone Age with crude, hand-carved plays, depending on the brilliance of Luka Doncic to trump everything else.
On paper, this should have led to Blazers dominance. And it did for isolated stretches. Portland looked good more often than L.A. did. But a funny thing happened on the way to the blowout. At the half, Portland had attempted only 35 shots, the Lakers 49. By the end of the game it was 93-70, in favor of Los Angeles. Those are numbers you wouldn’t believe watching the game without benefit of stats. By pace alone Portland should have developed an easy margin over L.A. in shot attempts, let alone points scored. But several other factors intruded. To wit…
Offensive Rebounds
The Blazers have been the best rebounding team in the NBA this year, but the Lakers prospered on the offensive glass tonight. They had 8 offensive rebounds at halftime, 17 for the game. Donovan Clingan did well enough rebounding, but everyone else looked vulnerable. Those extra shots for L.A. ate into Portland’s advantage.
Turnovers
Similarly, the Blazers have taken care of the ball well this year, but they turned over the ball 14 times in the first two quarters, 24 when all was said and done. L.A. was +10 in points after turnovers. Scoot Henderson committed 5 in relatively limited duty. Avdija had an incredible 8. At least he contributed 11 assists alongside. Either way, every miscue took away a shot from Portland and gave an extra one to the Lakers. That hurt.
It also hurt that the Lakers, who average a ton of turnovers, had only 11. It’s a battle Portland should have won. Instead they got housed embarrassingly.
Threes
Those factors might have destroyed Portland’s chances at the victory, except another huge trend intervened. The Lakers got open three-pointers, but hit a percentage of them so low that you have to add to shopping cart in order to see it. L.A. ended up shooting 11-37, or 30%, but they required 50% shooting beyond the arc in the second half to even get that high. The Lakers left enough points on the table from distance to stock a whole ‘nother quarter.
Meanwhile the Blazers shot 19-43, 44% from deep. That advantage alone was enough to carry them through the miscues elsewhere, keeping the score closer than it had a right to be.
Defending Doncic
Luka Doncic ended up with an impressive 53 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds in this one, continuing his early-season campaign for MVP consideration. The game plan for the Lakers was pretty clear: feed off of Luka. Part of the reason they slowed down the action was to keep the ball in his hands and keep him fresh through 48 minutes.
Portland tried to foil that by throwing every defender in the pantry at Luka, play after play. Scoot Henderson, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, and Chris Youngblood all took their turns. Every one of them got up in his grill, activating a new level of energy when facing Doncic up high as he controlled the dribble.
Not a one of them was successful in the traditional sense. Luka is too crafty from too many places on the court to defend, particularly one-on-one. But that wasn’t the point. Doncic labored. Most of his shots came off of multiple dribbles, bumps and steps, often with some kind of fade-away attached at the end. This continued the general trend of the Los Angeles offense costing time. It also wore Luka out. That seemed to be Portland’s plan: make him suffer for 40 points in the first three quarters, then overtake and surpass in the fourth as he faded.
Unfortunately, the Blazers suffered through a 15-34 third period. Doncic, with 19, outscored them all on his own. This was a huge, “Oops!” (Rumor has it the letters “FAFO” were circled in red on Lakers’ Coach J.J. Redick’s white board.) It also had the convenient side effect of allowing Doncic an extended rest at the start of the fourth. Playing only half of the final period kept Luka’s legs fresh enough to persevere.
That wasn’t the worst of it. In a judo-throw moment of irony, it looked like Portland was slowing down in the fourth period, losing energy as the clock dwindled. Offense took twice as long to set up. Defense developed basic loopholes. Turnovers continued to haunt them. Fatigue affected both teams, but it hurt Portland more than it did Los Angeles because the Blazers need to play fast, the Lakers don’t. The best laid plans…
Clingan
It would be impossible to overstate the contributions of Donovan Clingan to the Blazers lately. He looked like a man among boys rebounding against the Lakers. He also gave Portland the only pretense at interior defense they had all night. Part of the Doncic-chasing plan was leaving a single defender in the paint. When that guy was Clingan, everything was ok. When it was anybody else, Portland looked miserable.
Donovan finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 28 minutes. The fact that he hit 3-5 from distance on top of his other contributions is just chef’s kiss.
The only hitch in the giddyap for Clingan was one that also affected Avdija, Henderson, and Toumani Camara. All finished the game with 5 fouls.
Lillard
Damian Lillard also came to play old school tonight. He hit 4 threes in 10 attempts, but he also adopted some Ja-Morant-like pull-ups on his way to those 22. Like everyone else, he committed turnovers (4 in 37 minutes). But it was an ok Dame Game.
The big thing about 2026-27 Dame isn’t necessarily his production, but his poise and timing. Late-stage Lillard doesn’t carry the same raw excitement as his prime version did, but for a basketball purist, this Dame isn’t bad.
Deeper Bench
Portland is suffering through multiple injuries. No evidence is clearer than the deeper bench players getting extended run in a hard-fought, semi-important game.
You don’t expect to read Chris Youngblood’s name next to Damian Lillard’s in Portland analysis, but the second-year player gave the Blazers aggressive offense, lots of energy, and even took a possession or two defending Doncic. He played above his normal level, finishing with 7 points in 11 minutes.
On the other end of the spectrum was Sidy Cissoko, who all of a sudden looked like he forgot how to play basketball. The most egregious moment came at the end of the first half. The Blazers were nursing a comfortable lead. Cissoko got the ball in the corner, just seconds left on the clock, wide open for a three. He hesitated, seemingly making a move four times: step, no…shot, no…step, no…shot I guess? Sidy had time to shoot it four times over. Instead he settled for a horribly awkward triple attempt—the one he should have taken in the first place—that missed badly. Doncic picked up the brick with a couple seconds remaining, dribbled 15 feet towards his end of the court, then heaved a 64-footer that banked in at the buzzer. That shot turned the momentum, all but ruining a super nice half from the Blazers in one stroke.
Cissoko has looked good this year. It was surprising to see him stumble.
NBA Cup Floor
Everything we just mentioned put together—every turnover, missed rebound, and blundered play—was not as bad as the absolutely eye-shredding NBA Cup court the Lakers sported tonight. The initial reaction was, “What’s wrong with my TV? Is the color setting broken?” That was followed quickly by, “Why not just replace the midcourt logo with a urinal cake? It’d feel right at home.”
Yup! The…errrrrr…“gold” color was that bad. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen worse. Hope they kept the receipt.
Up Next
Boxscore
The Blazers return home to face the San Antonio Spurs tomorrow night with a 7:00 PM, Pacific start.
