On This Day In NBA History: August 29 - Lakers Beat Trail Blazers In 2020 Bubble Playoffs

On this day in 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 4-1 in the first-round of the playoffs. The Lakers then went on to win the NBA Finals, claiming their 17th championship in team history.

When you think about the greatest franchises in any professional sports around the world, it is hard not to have the Los Angeles Lakers come to mind.

From Wilt Chamberlain to Jerry West to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Magic Johnson to Shaquille O’Neal to Kobe Bryant, some of the greatest in NBA history have worn the purple and gold and on this day in 2020, the Lakers added yet another chapter to their historic record books.

On August 29, 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 131-122 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series, winning this series 4-1 and advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals.

The reason this first-round win was significant is because Los Angeles then went on to defeat the Houston Rockets in five games, the Denver Nuggets in five games and then the Miami Heat in six games to claim their 17th championship in franchise history, tying their arch-rivals in the Boston Celtics for the most in league history.

The 2019-20 season was a very weird year for the NBA and the world in general, as the coronavirus had shut down everything, not just professional sports, for many months.

After over a four month hiatus and halt of the season, the NBA was able to resume play in a “bubble” format at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida.

Many have mixed opinions on whether or not the 2019-20 season should be counted, but nonetheless, what happened in the NBA Bubble lives on in league lore and the Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, were able to capture the championship.

Since this Finals victory, the Lakers have gone a combined 75-79 over the last two seasons, failing to win a playoff series in 2021 and then missing the playoffs entirely this past season. Championship winning head coach Frank Vogel was fired following this past regular season and former Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham is now the new head coach of the Lakers.

Ham is now the seventh different acting head coach for the Lakers since the start of the 2011-12 season.