The Lakers lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 132-116, on Saturday night.
Without Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes, the Lakers were forced to go deep on their bench. While there were some outstanding offensive plays, the Lakers were finally able to hold their own defensively.
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It was Maxi Kleber’s take from the start as he scored nine of the first 14 points. With Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes out, Kleber was the only center available, and he took advantage.
Marcus Smart was another Laker who scored well with five points. LeBron James and Jake LaRavia combined for four assists. Portland led by four, but Drew Timme came in and scored five quick points to put LA up by one.
The Blazers then took control of the game. Los Angeles sent Portland to the line 22 times in the period. LA’s offense stagnated, unable to string together consistent scoring.
LeBron’s first bucket of the game came in at 28 points. It was the Lakers’ only basket in a 12-2 Blazers run to end the first and take 13 points into the second.
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Gabe Vincent opened the second half with a much-needed 3-pointer. Donovan Clingan responded with a triple of his own. Timme continued his impressive game with five points, making him the first Laker in double figures with 12.
Los Angeles made it a six-point game after scoring from LeBron and Smart, but Portland responded quickly when Jerami Grant scored five in a row. LA had no answer for Caleb Love, who had 11 points and was 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Grant and Love combined for 26 points off the bench for the Trail Blazers. At halftime, the Lakers were down 10.
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Smart opened the second half with two 3-pointers. Despite those shots, Los Angeles was still down by double digits as the Blazers continued to score freely, shooting 55% from the field. Smart was the only Laker who looked good in the quarter, pushing his total to 23 points.
Defensive breakdowns were taking their toll on Los Angeles as they continued to have no answers for the Portland forwards. The Lakers were down 19 with 5:33 left in the third quarter.
Rui Hachimura knocked down a much-needed 3-pointer. He also knocked down mid-range jumpers. LA put together a small 8-2 scoring run as the quarter wound down to help cut the deficit to 12 before it all fell apart and Portland opened up a 17-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Despite starting the final frame with a strong comeback effort, LA didn’t have enough juice in the tank to stop the fiery Trail Blazers.
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Key Player Statistics
LeBron ended up with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Smart finished with 25 points and two rebounds. Timme had a solid game with 21 points, two rebounds and three assists. Kleber had his best game as a Laker with 11 points and five rebounds. Hachimura scored 11 points with two steals.
The Lakers next game is against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday at 6:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
