Getting hammered in the paint and losing the rebounding battle 56-42 (14-8 offensive) doesn’t speak well for Portland’s chances with this lineup when they’re not scoring six million points beyond the arc, though. The Blazers didn’t have the best front three in the game tonight, but the players they fielded didn’t cost them (in this instance, anyway). But it made relatively little difference because of Portland’s high overall shooting percentage (47.4%, higher before the third unit got in). The Lakers did outscore Portland in the paint 54-38. If you had called that lineup at the beginning of the season, you would have predicted exactly -2 wins. For perspective, the Blazers started Drew Eubanks in place of the injured Jusuf Nurkic, Cam Reddish in place of the injured Grant, and Thybulle in place of the departed Josh Hart. The Lakers wanted to score inside against Portland’s smaller, undermanned frontcourt. It was a nice debut for the newest Trail Blazers guard. The Lakers not providing any threat from deep made him look even more effective covering ground. Thybulle produced 14 points on 5-9 shooting, 4-6 from distance, but his main contribution was a quickening of the defense, particularly getting back in transition. Matisse Thybulle got the start tonight as Jerami Grant sat because of concussion protocols, leaving a forward spot open. When the Lakers tried to solve that problem with an extra defender, Dame just looped the ball over their heads to an open teammate, often from three-point land as well, as described above. If he wasn’t coming off of screens, he jab-stepped overeager Lakers defenders, let them fall back a smidge, then launched from 23. If the Lakers had a plan to stop Damian Lillard tonight, it wilted in the face of 8-14 three-point shooting for him, personally. Anthony Davis and company didn’t stand a chance. They’re still not going to overcome that kind of deficit on threes. You could resurrect every center who’s ever played the game and stick them three feet from the rim to score. They spent the whole first half with a single-digit percentage. The Lakers, meanwhile, went 12-37, and they had to catch fire during garbage time to manage that. That percentage cooled down because it HAD to, but they still fired 23-47 for the game, setting a franchise record for makes in the first half (17) and just missing their full-game record (24). The Blazers shot Blazers 10-14 from distance in the first quarter. You almost don’t need to go further than this stat. After that, here are some of the why’s and wherefores in the blowout, Three Pointers If you missed the action, you can find our quarter-by-quarter recap here. barely able to put up resistance against the onslaught. The Blazers controlled the game from start to finish, with L.A. Damian Lillard scored 40 once again as LeBron James sat out with a foot injury. The Portland Trail Blazers played a terrible version of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night, marching to a 127-115 victory while trying not to step in the Lakers’ game plan.
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