On Thursday night in Portland, C.J. McCollom and Damian Lillard led the Portland Trail Blazers to a 118-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers despite the home team trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half.
Initially, the Lakers came out flat and immediately fell behind 6-0 but immediately battled back to only trail by five points after 12 minutes. Since it was a nationally televised game on TNT, Walton provided the network with a short interview in between the first and second quarters where he pointedly criticized his team for not following the defensive plan and getting caught cheating under screens, rather than fighting over them.
Seemingly, Walton's players heard the message loud and clear.
The second quarter featured some of the Lakers' best basketball of the season, particularly on the defensive end. LA put together a 13-0 run at the start of the second quarter and quickly erased the Blazers' advantage. As the quarter progressed, LA found its offensive rhythm to go along with its defensive fortitude.
Rookie Brandon Ingram, who earned the start in place of injured forward Luol Deng, found his shooting range and hit two of his three shots from beyond the arc to reach 10 points for the half. LA led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter and entered the halftime break leading by nine points. LA had outscored Portland by 14 points.
At the start of the third quarter, though, the Blazers came to life, and the Lakers looked, well, dead.
The nine-point lead evaporated in the blink of an eye. Portland started the third quarter with a 13-4 run and tied the game at 66-66. A back and forth stretch of play eventually witnessed the Blazers tasting their first lead of the second half at 79-78 with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter.
The Blazers led by as many as three points in the third quarter before Randle began to bulldoze his way to the rim and plowed the game to an 84-84 score line with 12 minutes remaining. The Lakers' dynamic forward was coming off a triple-double game a couple nights earlier and finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes on Thursday.
In the fourth quarter, Randle and D'Angelo Russell took the initiative and put the visiting Lakers in position to steal a road game. With 4:20 to play, the Lakers trailed by only one point: 104-103. And then, the offense suddenly stalled for the Lakers and kept on blazing for Portland. With a minute remaining in the game, the Lakers trailed the Blazers 114-106. Effectively, the Lakers had lost the game on poor shot selection down the stretch.
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When the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers lost for the 26th time in 39 games by a final count of 118-109.
Backcourt Matchup:
McCollum & Lillard: 48 points (18-35) 17 assists, 9 rebounds
Young & Russell: 35 points (11-33), 3 assists, 6 rebounds — Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) January 6, 2017
Notes: McCollom led all scorers with 27 points and also tabbled seven assists and five rebounds. Lillard scored 21 points in his first game back from injury and led all players with 10 assists on the night. Evan Turner played vital minutes off the Blazers' bench and scored 20 points in the victory. Jordan Clarkson led the Lakers' bench with 21 points on 8-14 shooting from the field. Russell led the Lakers with 22 points on the night.
Next: The Lakers host the Miami Heat on Friday night at Staples Center.
