Los Angeles Lakers @ Portland Trail Blazers
Friday, November 17, 2023 at 10:00 PM ET
Moda Center, Portland, OR | Game ID: 22300036
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
POR 23 27 25 20 95LAL 30 30 22 25 107
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
James has 35 and Lakers stay atop In-Season Tournament group with 107-95 win at Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. -- — LeBron James matched his season-high with 35 points and the Los Angeles Lakers handed the Portland Trail Blazers their sixth straight loss with a 107-95 victory in an In-Season Tournament game on Friday night.
Anthony Davis added 16 points and 14 rebounds, and the Lakers moved to 3-0 in Group A with the victory that counts toward the regular season.
“It's an incentive for sure, this early in the season,” James said about the tournament. “We understand what's at stake, that's not saying we're putting all our eggs in one basket in the In-Season Tournament.”
Jerami Grant had 24 points for Portland. With the loss, the Blazers fell to 1-2 in the tournament and were eliminated from a shot at winning their group.
The Lakers led by as many as 17 points in the final quarter. Rui Hachimura 's 3-pointer put Los Angeles in front 97-83 with just over seven minutes left, sending fans to the exits.
James was listed as questionable with a calf contusion but he started and played with a sleeve on his calf, finishing with nine assists — seven of them in the fourth quarter. He also made five 3-pointers.
“He shot the ball extremely well tonight, he was in a great rhythm, especially from 3. Made some huge plays, big time shots for us, the kind that just slowed them down,” Davis said about James.
Los Angeles (7-6) kept its starters in until the end, because point differential matters in the group standings. The Lakers are the only undefeated Western Conference team in the tournament.
“I mean, it’s been a little topsy-turvy for us, a little inconsistency mixed in, in those first 13 games,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “But this is the early part of the season. Those first 20 games, you’re trying to figure yourselves out.”
The Lakers led by as many as 13 points in the first quarter and took a 30-23 lead into the second. They stretched it to 54-40 on D'Angelo Russell 's 3-pointer before going into halftime in front 60-50.
Grant's 3-pointer and free throw for Portland closed the gap to 63-60 early in the third. The Blazers got as closes as 68-67 on Skylar Mays ' 3.
Russell finished with 14 points for the Lakers, who were coming off a 125-110 loss to the Sacramento Kings that snapped a three-game winning streak.
“When it (the tournament) started we just started to find our rhythm, click as a team, just kind of getting things rolling," Davis said. “Obviously a tough loss a couple of days ago at Sac, and we just wanted to come back and get in the win column.”
Deandre Ayton had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the struggling and shorthanded Blazers, coming off a 109-95 loss to the Cavaliers on Wednesday.
While trying to rebuild after the departure of All-Star Damian Lillard in the offseason, Portland has been beset by injuries, with starting guard Anfernee Simons (right thumb), rookie Scoot Henderson (right ankle) and Malcolm Brogdon (left hamstring) all absent.
“We’re so young. A lot of times even our walkthroughs and shootarounds, we spend most of our time talking about our concepts or things we want to do, and a little time on the Lakers or the Grizzlies or whoever,′ coach Chauncy Billups said. ”We’re still learning so much.”
UP NEXT
Lakers: Host the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
Trail Blazers: Host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
POR KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAD A. Davis
AR A. Reaves
CR C. Reddish
CW C. Wood
DR D. Russell
JH J. Hayes
LJ L. James
MC M. Christie
RH R. Hachimura
TP T. Prince
PORDA D. Ayton
DR D. Reath
JG J. Grant
JW J. Walker
KM K. Murray
MT M. Thybulle
SM S. Mays
SS S. Sharpe
TC T. Camara
LAL/POR the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur