Portland Trail Blazers Defeat Los Angeles Lakers 136-129 in Season Opener Clash
Luka Doncic scored 41 points but could not stop Portland from winning its third straight game as Ja Morant and Deni Avdija led a balanced attack.
By Allison Cooper ·
The Los Angeles Lakers lost their fourth game of the season on Tuesday night, falling 136-129 to the Portland Trail Blazers in a high-scoring affair that saw both teams start the night with perfect records. The defeat marked the Lakers' first loss in four contests, ending a brief winning streak that had seen them defeat the Utah Jazz two days prior.
Luka Doncic led all scorers with 41 points and nine assists for Los Angeles. Austin Reaves contributed 26 points and seven assists, while Sandro Mamukelashvili added 17. Walker Kessler finished with 13 points and Ziaire Williams recorded 11. The Lakers shot 56.2 percent from the field and made 17 of 43 three-point attempts, a 39.5 percent clip. Doncic went 6 of 15 from long range, and Reaves was 4 of 8.
Portland countered with a distributed offensive effort. Deni Avdija recorded 23 points and nine assists, while Ja Morant also scored 23 points. Jrue Holiday added 22 points off the bench, and Damian Lillard finished with 21. Robert Williams III contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Toumani Camara added 12. The Trail Blazers shot 59 percent from the field and made 18 of 36 three-pointers. Avdija, Lillard, and Camara each made four shots from beyond the arc. Donovan Clingan finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Lakers built early leads throughout the contest. Mamukelashvili made two three-pointers during a 7-0 run to close the first half, and Reaves and Doncic opened the second half with threes to give Los Angeles a 79-68 advantage. Los Angeles led 97-88 after a Reaves three and a Doncic basket. However, Portland scored 14 of the final 20 points of the third quarter to trail only 103-102 entering the fourth.
Lillard took the lead for Portland with a three-pointer at 108-105 with 9:10 remaining. Camara increased the gap to 114-106 with 8:31 left. Los Angeles answered with a 10-2 spurt that Reaves ended with a jumper to tie the game at 116 with 5:33 remaining.
The final minutes saw Portland pull away. Avdija hit a three-pointer to put Portland up 128-124 with 2:59 left. Ziaire Williams responded with a three to cut the lead to one point. Morant’s floater gave Portland a 130-127 edge with 2:01 remaining. Morant added another basket with 1:24 left, but Doncic answered with a short shot to cut the deficit to three with 1:06 remaining.
Lillard buried a three-pointer to make it 135-129 with 43.1 seconds left. Doncic and Reaves both missed three-point attempts on the next Lakers possession. Holiday split two free throws to extend the lead to seven points with 18.3 seconds remaining, securing the victory for the Trail Blazers.
Source: Al Jazeera
