The Los Angeles Lakers were back in action on Monday night, traveling to take on the Portland Trail Blazers. This was the Lakers’ second back-to-back of the season and both included travel and playing the Trail Blazers in the second game.
Portland took advantage of a shorthanded L.A. roster last week, and they had a chance again with Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves and others all out of the lineup. That didn’t matter for the Lakers though as they fought hard all night and earned an impressive 123-115 victory to improve to 6-2 on the season.
Despite being without so many players, the Lakers had good energy from the jump with Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton hitting back-to-back buckets. L.A. then turned defense into back as Rui Hachimura had two transition dunks in a row to force a quick Trail Blazers timeout with them trailing 12-6.
Robert Williams came off the bench and provided a spark for Portland with his defensive intensity to take the lead. The Lakers’ offense cooled off from there despite Ayton doing what he could against his former team, and the Blazers led 33-24 at the end of the first. Dalton Knecht had a putback at the buzzer to keep it within single digits.
Hachimura knew he needed to be aggressive offensively and had 10 points along early in the second to get the Lakers back within six. He needed some help though, and again it was Ayton that provided it with some easy ones inside to cut the deficit to just one at 53-52 going into the halftime locker room.
The Trail Blazers began the third quarter with a 9-2 burst, although Ayton went back to work to keep the Lakers close. Smart and Hachimura then turned defense into offense and all of a sudden L.A. regained the lead at 68-66.
Nick Smith Jr. provided an offense spark for the Lakers off the bench, which was much-needed to maintain their advantage. After staying quiet for most of the night, Jake LaRavia had his own little spurt to end the third quarter, giving L.A. a 90-86 lead.
Bronny James made his presence felt with a 3-pointer early in the fourth. Meanwhile, Smith also stayed hot and all of a sudden the Lakers’ lead was seven.
Evenryone continued to contribute on both ends of the floor, and both James and Smith found themselves making huge plays down the stretch. Smith hit back-to-back triples to put the Lakers up 117-105 with two minutes to play, and they would go on the close out the victory from there.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will now return home for a big matchup against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night before heading out on another five-game road trip.
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