The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 108-96 at Moda Center with Damian Lillard scoring 29 points for game-high honors, narrowly edging teammate C.J. McCollum's 28 points. For the visiting Lakers, Kobe Bryant led the way with 21 points on 7-20 shooting, but the night featured an optimistic oulook on the young trio of D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.
"Lillard and McCollum--both of those guys are good," Lakers coach Byron Scott said on TWC SportsNet after the game.
At home, the Blazers came out shooting hot from the opening tip. Portland led by as many as 17 points after shooting 72.2 percent in the opening 12 minutes. McCollum and Lillard combined for 24 points in the opening quarter and looked altogether unstoppable.
For the Lakers, Clarkson and Randle found their shots early, as the two second-year players combined for score 12 points on 6-9 shooting in the opening period. However, Bryant started 2-7 in the opening quarter which combined with the Blazers' hot start to sink the Lakers.
To the credit of the coaching staff and the visiting players, the Lakers did not roll over and play dead for the remaining three quarters. LA cut the Blazers' lead down to seven points with 2:47 to play in the opening half. Unfortunately, that lead would double before the halftime halftime buzzer sounded and the score read "60-46."
In the second half, the Lakers cut the deficit to five points with 5:43 to play in the third quarter. Clarkson, Bryant and Russell all shot better than 50 perfent for the quarter and helped trim Portland's lead.
Every time the Lakers cut the lead, the Blazers' back court responded. Lillard would score 12 points in the quarter and extend the lead by for 14 points with 55.4 seconds to play in the quarter. Nick Young quickly came to life and hit a couple timely three-pointers to keep Lakers' hopes alive and draw LA within eight points entering the fourth quarter.
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In the second half and particularly early in the fourth quarter, the young Lakers continued to show signs of maturation. The Lakers would claw to within six points before falling back down by 12 points only two minutes later. The young Lakers continued to fight and cut the lead to eight points on three separate occations before the final buzzer, but they would get no closer.
Randle finished with 16 points, four assists and six rebounds on 8-13 shooting, Russell finished with 16 points, five assists and four rebounds on 6-11 shooting and Clarkson finished with 19 points, four assists and three rebounds on 8-15 shooting.
"I though all three of those guys played pretty well," Scott would say about Clarkson, Russell and Randle after the game. "One thing that was different than the last time we played them was our effort. Our focus was better."
Despite the strong showing and heavy minutes by the young core, the Lakers dropped to 2-13 on the season. Porland's win moved the Blazers to 7-10.
Notes: Scott said Bryant's involvement in Sunday's home game against Indiana would be determined via conversations that take place between the player and the coach on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
