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The Los Angeles Lakers put up a fight against the Portland Trail Blazers but couldn’t complete their comeback effort in a 105-98 loss. That makes it 11 straight losses to the Trail Blazers, closing in on four years since the Lakers last defeated Damian Lillard. It was a little bit of everything from Portland, and another lackluster third quarter that put the Lakers away.
Lillard and C.J. McCollum combined for 48 points (each scoring 24) while the fans in the Moda Center serenaded Luke Walton’s team with “Beat LA” chants. Mason Plumlee had his way with the Lakers’ interior presence, notching a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Bill Walton was in the building as the 1977 champion Trail Blazers team was honored, having a much better night than his son while he reminisced with Lionel Hollins, Doris Burke and the crew during the game.
Lou Williams was his typical Sixth-Man-of-the-year-candidate self, dropping a game-high 31 points. His fourth-quarter three-point barrage gave the Lakers life in a game they looked dead to rights in by the end of the third quarter. Nick Young gave the Lakers a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Blazers would go on to put the Lakers away with a 14-4 run to close the game out.
Young was the only Lakers to reach double-digits in scoring, while both Timofey Mozgov and Jose Calderon failed to scratch. Julius Randle was a non-factor, scoring eight points with just five rebounds. It was the Lakers’ bench once again making the biggest impact, with Jordan Clarkson adding 22 points to Williamd 31. Ivica Zubac reached a new career-high with 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Larry Nance, Jr. made a handful of solid plays in his second game back, logging 16 minutes.
Things could have gone much worse for a Lakers team coming off of the worst loss in franchise history, but the 17-point third quarter stands out as a painful 12 minutes of hoops. No worries, they get to hit the air for a trip to another super-friendly arena with a road game against the Utah Jazz Thursday night. See you on the other side of the back-to-back.