Lakers Highlights: Anthony Davis Powers Los Angeles To Home W Over Frisky Blazers
Your Los Angeles Lakers struggled through something of a porous first half against a very depleted Portland Trail Blazers club, before finally finding their footing in an active third quarter, and hanging on long enough in the fourth to secure a contested 116-110 victory without All-NBA superstar forward LeBron James.
Back at Crypto.com Arena after a four-game road trip (during which LA went, uh, 1-3), Los Angeles ultimately fended off a Portland club missing (deep breath) starting guards Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons, key reserve big man Robert Williams III, reigning Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, and newly added forward Ish Wainwright.
The Lakers finally won a first quarter for a change, albeit just barely, 31-28, while employing a modified version of their new starting lineup. Joining the four starter Darvin Ham employed against the Phoenix Suns Friday (D'Angelo Russell, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince and Anthony Davis) in James' stead was newly re-signed power forward Rui Hachimura.
With Davis a bit sluggish early, Reddish continued to validate Ham's decision to start him almost immediately, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field in the opening frame.
After a quick 12-2 Portland run, the Trail Blazers and LA traded buckets during much of the second quarter. Portland emerged (slightly) on top at the break, 57-56. They have yet to lead a game at halftime this season, somehow.
The Lakers outscored the Trail Blazers by 12 points, 35-23, in the fourth to build out a significant lead for the first time all game.
LA led by double digits, 91-80, heading into the final frame. The Lakers' 91 points through the end of the third quarter represented their highest such sum in that time frame of the season.
In the fourth quarter, thanks to some tactical fast break maneuvering orchestrated by fill-in starter Skylar Mays, the Trail Blazers went on a 12-2 run to instantly get within just a single point of Los Angeles early, 93-92. Things continued to look dicey, as Portland continued to carve up LA to stay within striking distance until the game's waning seconds.
The Blazers' red-hot scoring was disrupted with 3:43 remaining, when attendant officials decided to debate a Chauncey Billups coaching challenge against a foul called on Blazers starting power forward Jerami Grant moving laterally against Rui Hachimura. For whatever bizarre reason, the refs opted to make the night about themselves and bore John Ireland, Mychal Thompson and basically every Crypto.com Arena fan practically to tears in the process.
With everyone a bit out of it, this excellent two-way hustle play from Taurean Prince, where he poked away the rock from Skylar Mays, recovered the basketball and subsequently essentially nabbed an uncontested lay-in on the other end, helped revive the crowd:
Los Angeles was utterly dominant in the paint, outscoring Portland by 20 points there, 68-48. The younger Trail Blazers proved to be the full court team, outscoring the Lakers 24-15 in fast break points.
The Lakers' constant post presence helped yield an astronomic free throw shooting disparity, which considering the final margin may have saved the day. LA shot 30-of-37 from deep, while Portland shot a meager 7-of-9.
All five LA starters, plus Reaves, scored in double figures.
But Davis and Russell were the night's two standouts, each nabbing double-doubles. Despite being frequently double- and even triple-teamed in the paint, Davis scored a whopping 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe. He also pulled down 13 rebounds, dished out six dimes, and blocked three shots. He continues to anchor LA's defense:
Russell, meanwhile, helped orchestrate much of LA's offense, notching an 11-point, 11-assist double-double (he also chipped in five rebounds and a steal). Yes, his shot wasn't falling (he was 5-of-14 from the floor, missing all three of his triple tries), but his abilities as a facilitator proved critical for the Lakers.
As I've been advocating for all year, Hachimura thrived with additional run. He scored 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor (1-of-3 from deep), second-most on the club behind AD, and displayed a knack for drawing contact, going 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He also pulled down five boards.
Reddish continues to look excellent as a newly-minted starter. With a longer leash, he's appeared almost as eager to score as he has been to tap away loose balls from the opposition on defense. He scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field (1-of-3 from deep) and 3-of-3 shooting from the charity stripe, grabbed seven boards, snagged three steals, passed out for two assists and blocked one shot.
Not to be outdone, sixth man Austin Reaves also chipped in 18 points off the bench, while shooting an efficient 6-of-12 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line.
This was a stunningly gettable game for Portland. The Trail Blazers outscored the Lakers by an overwhelming 27 points from long range, but they ceded so much action inside that things kind of evened out. LA went just 4-of-19 from long range (only Reaves had multiple threes for LA), while the Blazers shot 13-of-37 from distance.
Jerami Grant, who seems to thrive best when getting a majority of touches for a tanking lottery team, was the leading scorer tonight, scoring 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field (3-of-6 from long range), grabbing five boards and registering a -15 plus-minus. That number represented the second-worst on the team (and in the game) behind Deandre "DominAyton", who notched a -17 while adding 12 points and seven rebounds while looking pretty slow and ground-bound inside. Shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe, meanwhile, coughed up a miserable seven turnovers against just four assists, with playmaking duties now shared warily between him, Mays (who had 12 dimes) and Grant, thanks to all those backcourt absences.
The win improves LA to a 5-5 record on the year, while dropping the Blazers to 3-6.
Next up, the Lakers will face the 3-8 Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday. Memphis is hot off a shocking defeat over the Los Angeles Clippers tonight. The Clips, by the way, remain winless since James Harden joined the lineup.
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