The Portland Trail Blazers step into the Staples Center to avenge their dismissal of the 2020 NBA playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers. After a slow start in which the LA greats beat Portland relentlessly, the Blazers incited the guard and sailed past the World Champions, 115-107. Gary Trent, Jr., was the knockout star of the evening with 28 points on 7-11 that shot out of the arc. CJ McCollum added 20 and Damian Lillard 31 in the Blazers victory.
Portland started sluggishly again as LeBron hit 3 pickups for 7 points in the first three minutes of the game, giving LA an immediate 9-2 lead. And that was before he dropped an unopposed dunk during the break. Portland’s ball movement did not deceive anyone. The Lakers were well on their way to 30 in the first round against the new Portland defense, which looked about the same as the old Portland defense.
The Blazers narrowed the gap with the second unit, though … definitely a new development. Trent, Jr., hit three tries after joining the early bench players. He scored 16 points at halftime, while McCollum added 13, 11 in the second quarter.
Portland prospered when they stopped hitting the ball around the perimeter and attacking the edge hard. A few easy inside counts opened the arc and suddenly a Lakers defense that looked cement-proof burst and became porous. The Blazers led 58-54 at intervals.
If the first half was a series of runs (Portland had 11- and 12-point streaks), the Lakers committed to making the trend toward the start of the second series. They rocked 15 straight after the break. The Portland entrees continued a spell-long tendency to turn the ball around, contributing to LA’s dominance. The Blazers guard arrived strong when the third period disappeared, but Dennis Schroder tore them apart on the other side. LA led 85-84 at the end of three.
Trent Jr. made a strong argument that his name should be typed in all capital letters for the next month, while the last period began. He hit three more tries, guarding to start. Robert Covington and Derrick Jones, Jr., turned their already excellent defensive games at 11, and then Damian Lillard caught fire. At that point, the Blazers hadn’t stopped yet. Jusuf Nurkic jumped back big and the Blazers walked away with the victory to stand 2-1 on the young season.
LeBron James had 29 points in the loss. Enes Kanter added 12 to Trent Jr.’s 28, which helped the Blazers score 45 points from the bench tonight.
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