Damian Lillard scored 30 of his 40 factors within the first half to assist the Portland Trail Blazers roll to a straightforward 127-115 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night time.
Lillard drained eight 3-pointers whereas reaching the 40-point mark for the eleventh time this season. He additionally had six rebounds and 5 assists as Portland gained for the seventh time in its previous 11 video games.
LeBron James (sore left ankle) sat out his third consecutive recreation for the Lakers. Los Angeles is hopeful that the newly topped all-time NBA scoring king can play Wednesday towards the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.
Anthony Davis paced the Lakers with 19 factors, 20 rebounds and three blocked pictures. Los Angeles has dropped six of its previous 9 video games and stands six video games beneath .500 with simply 24 regular-season video games remaining.
Lillard has scored 30 or extra factors in 15 of the previous 19 video games.
Portland made 23 3-pointers (out of 47 makes an attempt) to make it a three-way tie for second-best output in franchise historical past. The Trail Blazers made 24 towards the Charlotte Hornets on March 1, 2021. Overall, Portland shot 47.4 % from the sphere on Monday.
Shaedon Sharpe scored 15 factors off the bench for Portland whereas Anfernee Simons and Matisse Thybulle added 14 apiece. Nassir Little had 11 factors because the Trail Blazers gained a break up of the four-game season collection with Los Angeles.
Malik Beasley scored a team-high 22 factors off the bench for the Lakers. D’Angelo Russell added 16 factors, Troy Brown Jr. had 13 and Austin Reaves tallied 10 for Los Angeles, which made 44.2 % of its subject purpose makes an attempt and was 12 of 37 from behind the arc.
Portland performed with out Jerami Grant (concussion).
The Trail Blazers have been 10 of 14 from 3-point vary within the opening quarter whereas taking a 34-19 lead. The Lakers have been 1 of 10 from behind the arc within the interval.
Lillard exploded for twenty-four second-quarter factors whereas sinking six treys. One of his 3-pointers pushed the lead over 20 for the primary time at 51-30 with 6:36 left within the half.
Lillard made two 3-pointers within the last minute of the half whereas serving to Portland construct a 65-46 edge.
Los Angeles shot 61.9 % from the sphere within the third quarter and nonetheless could not dent its massive deficit. The Lakers trailed 101-79 coming into the ultimate stanza.
Lillard reached 40 factors on a driving hoop to make it 113-89 with 7:40 remaining within the fourth. He exited the sport 38 seconds later, and Los Angeles lower into the margin within the last minutes.
—Field Level Media/Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
