After a tough loss in Phoenix Sunday night at the hands of the Suns, the Lakers were back in Los Angeles to try to regain some self esteem and get back to their winning ways. L.A. were playing host to the Portland Trail Blazers, who were coming off of a twenty point home win versus the Hawks that boosted themselves to a 17-15 season record.
The Lakers loss to the Suns the night before had many fans shaking their heads in disbelief, as at one point in the third quarter they were trailing by a 27-point margin to the team they easily finished off on Friday. Their slow start to open the game accompanied by their lack of offensive effort from the bench, or more specifically anyone other than Kobe Bryant, led to their swift and inevitable downfall. An excessive amount of rumors that have been swirling around the media about whether Pau Gasol will be shipped away in a trade or not also has a lot of the players on edge, forcing Bryant to make a statement after their abysmal game in Phoenix to bring an end to the madness. With all the negativity built up before the players even take the court, the Lakers had to be thankful that they were playing host in the Staples Center, looking to continue winning to feed their already impressive home record.
First Quarter
Portland opened up the game right away with a three from Raymond Felton, to which both teams were unable to answer for the next three minutes. The Lakers missed their first five shot attempts until Andrew Bynum finally got the ball rolling with back to back slams to take the early lead. Both Portland and Los Angeles looked lackadaisical in the opening five minutes of the quarter, as no one looked to take their own shot and continued searching for the open man to pass it to instead of taking it to the hole.
Bynum continued being the final piece to the puzzle throughout these plays, however, as he scored L.A.’s first six from the field. Kobe Bryant continued to look for passes instead of the open shot, including a play in which he fed the ball to Pau Gasol for an easy layup, putting the Lakers on a 10-0 run and forcing the visitors to call a timeout. The first six minutes of the quarter showed off arguably the best consecutive 10 points the Lakers have accumulated all season, with offensive teamwork and dominant rebounding, giving them complete control of the game.
With Gasol and Bynum combining for 15 rebounds in the first quarter alone, Portland looked like they were going to have to find a different offensive gameplan in order to score more than seven points each quarter for the remainder of the game. Whenever the Trail Blazers brought the ball down the court, the Lakers defense clogged any sort of passes or routes they tried to accomplish, repeatedly putting the ball in the home team’s hands to take a larger and larger lead as the quarter came to a close. Kobe Bryant shot 4-7 in the first quarter, showing off how great his knees were feeling with spectacular layups and the initiation of excellent ball movement. Portland, on the other hand, ended the first 12 minutes 3-17 from the field with a mere seven points, trailing the Lakers 29-7.
Second Quarter
In order for the Lakers to continue this dominant play they showcased in the first quarter, three main things were needed to continue. They had to continue moving the ball around intelligently, looking for the open man and the smartest shooting decision to execute easy baskets. They were also needing big presence in the paint, with the plethora of both points and rebounds keeping the ball in their hands giving Portland no chance or any baskets. Finally, they were needing the bench to make a lot larger impact than they did the night before, which Steve Blake answered to by draining a three to initiate the second quarter.
Blake continued to shine after what seemed like an unimpressive effort in Phoenix the night before, helping the Lakers go on a 21-0 run with back to back three’s in the first minute of the quarter. LaMarcus Aldridge finally ended the Blazers drought with a three point play, drawing a foul while putting up a layup to cut the Lakers lead to 27 points. Jamal Crawford and Wesley Matthews followed up with back to back three pointers, but Steve Blake continued lighting up the floor, hitting another wide open three to put his personal total at 11.
The Trail Blazers defense continued to be unable to compete with the ball movement and offensive speed the Lakers were bringing to the court, but eventually the Lakers began to get lazier, resulting to the easy outside looks rather than working for the open baskets. Although Portland began finding themselves offensively and drawing fouls to send themselves to the free throw line, their turnovers continued to kill them. Nicolas Batum led the charge for the Blazers with 12 points, which all came within the final nine minutes of the first half. Steve Blake finished the half with the game high 14 points, a complete turnaround and bench boost from what we have been seeing in recent games. The Lakers initial charge proved to be enough to continue grasping control of the game, as they entered the locker room on top 52-30.
Next Page: Second Half
Third Quarter
The Lakers started off the third quarter on a 9-2 run to continue to blow the Blazers out of the water. With Kobe Bryant making nine of their first 11 points in the quarter, the game started to look as if it would take the same disastrous turn that it did the night before with Bryant being the only offensive force the Lakers sported throughout most of the game. Metta World Peace hit his first bucket of the game, which was a nice transition from the ugly attempts he had been taking a majority of the game.
The Trail Blazers continued to draw in fouls and grab offensive rebounds in the paint, realizing there was a lot of time left in the game to erase the large lead the Lakers began to throw away. The lead began to dwindle down from 22 to 19, then all of a sudden down the 16, forcing the Lakers to get back in gear and start playing the way they were to gain the large lead in the first place. Portland, who were hitting just under 54 percent from three point range with four minutes remaining in the quarter, kept taking advantage of their own open looks from beyond the arc and penalizing the home side for even offering it.
Tables began to turn as the quarter came to a close, with the Lakers giving away turnovers and slacking defensively while Portland were keeping better possession and slowly creeping within comeback range. Los Angeles’ bench returned to the floor, reigniting the flame they had sparked at the end of the first half with another impressive three from Steve Blake. Kobe began to take the forced difficult shots from beyond the arc that are literally impossible, but Matt Barnes proved his presence in the paint with another tip in to keep the Lakers lead above 17 points.
Nicolas Batum continued to be the force for the Blazers, however, as he sunk a long three as the shot clock buzzer rang with .4 seconds remaining in the quarter to cut the Lakers lead to 14. Portland kept nipping at the Lakers heels and it was beginning to pay off, as they entered the final quarter of the matchup down 80-66.
Fourth Quarter
The Blazers entered the quarter looking to draw fouls and shut down Andrew Bynum in the paint, initiating the double team and getting back to back fouls called on the Lakers within the first minute. If they were looking to cut the lead to single digits and make a game of this in the closing minutes, they were needing defensive stops and to continue being hot from beyond the arc. The Lakers height proved a deciding factor in the game, however, with rebounding continuing to go in their favor to keep the lead at 14 within the first three minutes of the quarter.
A stellar play by the trio of Bynum, Barnes and Gasol was initiated from another Bynum defensive rebound. He quickly dished the ball to Barnes who then threw up the ally-oop to Gasol to smash home, bringing energy and life back to the crowd who had become dazed and bored with the massive lead the Lakers had been sporting a majority of the game. The Lakers continued to commit fouls, however, sending the Blazers to the line repeatedly which evidently cut the lead to 12 with a little under nine minutes remaining in the half.
Portland’s defense became increasingly intense as the clock began ticking down, forcing the Lakers to take unwanted shots leading to offensive runs with no baskets. Kobe Bryant was brought back onto the floor a few minutes earlier than what both he and Coach Mike Brown had wanted, as their once 30 point lead being cut down to 10 was a serious matter. Bryant reentering the game was exactly what the Lakers offense needed, as he hit consecutive buckets to get the rest of his team motivated to do the same. Nicolas Batum began missing some of the three’s he had been making for Portland a majority of the game, giving L.A. an edge as the game drew to a close.
The play for L.A. that put the nail in the coffin was off of another big rebound by Bynum. He threw the ball overhand down the court to an already sprinting Bryant, who weaved around the defender to put in another easy layup to take a 17 point lead. The Lakers were lucky to have gained such a great lead off of a combination of great offensive movement and Portland’s lack of defensive effort early in the game. Their second half performance was hardly as impressive, with a few glimpses of great play that kept their lead afloat. A huge 19 rebounds from Bynum alone set the page for the game, as the Lakers finished off Portland easily 103-92.