A return home that feels good. After three losses in a row away from their bases, the Lakers (13v-11d) returned to victory (107-98) against the Blazers (8v-16d) in the absence, for the first time this season, of LeBron James , hit in the foot.
To compensate, the Californians counted on an unconventional “Big Three”. If Anthony Davis (30 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks) was expected inside against Deandre Ayton (14 points and 19 rebounds), the other two, Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell, authors of their best outing of the season, were a little less so.
The first, present in all the good shots, demonstrated great accuracy in shooting. His two 3-point baskets in a row notably contributed to the enormous second quarter of the locals (37-17) who, on the basis of their collective external success, took the lead by 14 points at the break (59 -45).
D’Angelo Russell everywhere in the fourth quarter
Anfernee Simons and the visitors then took advantage of several minutes of offensive drought from the Lakers to score a 9-0 after going to the locker room. The Anthony Davis – D’Angelo Russell tandem then agreed to relaunch the Californian machine. The understanding of the two men on the “pick-and-roll” is one of the big stories of this evening.
The point guard kept making the right reads. And, seeing that the opposing defense was starting to give him space, he made the difference almost single-handedly at the start of a fourth quarter where only one possession separated the two teams (77-74).
On the… first nine baskets of his formation, he was involved either in passing or finishing. His winning shot seven minutes from time gave the Lakers a 16-point lead (97-81). This time, Shaedon Sharpe and his gang would not recover, even if they finished the game 11-0, the Lakers being unable to score in the last four minutes of play.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– D’Angelo Russell relieves the back lines. Coming from the bench, the leader was the main external threat on the Lakers side, also deprived of Austin Reaves. Established, Gabe Vincent and Max Christie recorded a poor 2/10 on shots between them. Dalton Knecht was not much happier on shots (3/9), but he contributed to the rebound. Cam Reddish showed up a bit, but Russell was the most impressive with his +29 score when he was in play.
– Jerami Grant misses. This is what we call having a hole, and seriously! While he was already struggling since the start of the season – only 16 points on 39% shooting before the match – the leader of the Blazers completely missed his match: 3 points (1/12 on shots including 1 /7 by far!). It was his worst performance of the year in scoring without really compensating in the other areas of the game.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
