Damian Lillard gets his groove back as Portland Trail Blazers crush Lakers

Following a three-game road trip that resulted in zero victories for the Portland Trail Blazers, they squeaked one out against a short-handed Indiana Pacers team. Tonight, they took on the Los Angeles Lakers for the second leg of a back-to-back homestand.

For the first time in forever, Portland has been on the good side of the injury report, as LA came into this game missing LeBron James, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Trevor Ariza. The Blazers hit the floor with a clean bill of health and took full advantage to start the game, leading by as many as 16 in the first quarter. To make matters worse for the Lakers, Anthony Davis exited the game in the first-half and did not return due to a “stomach illness.”

The Blazers allowed LA to sneak its way back into the game, going through one of their infamous offensive droughts in the second quarter. They came out strong in the second half, though, and led by over 30 at one point. In the end, Portland downed the Lakers, 105-90, and extended their win streak to two.

The Portland Trail Blazers cruise past the Los Angeles Lakers

Damian Lillard had a bounce-back game tonight, finishing with 25 points on 9-19 shooting. His 3-point stroke was back big time, as he hit six threes, each of them classic Dame. We’ll see if he can ride this momentum and end his puzzling cold spell.

CJ McCollum was the only Blazers starter not to finish with double-digit points, but did hand out five dimes. He finished with seven points, all of which came in the first-half.

Russell Westbrook played an atrocious game, hitting only one of his 13 attempts from the field. He finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, six assists, but also committed six turnovers.

Fast Break Notes:

• Entering this game, Damian Lillard has averaged 29.3 points and 8.7 assists when playing Russell Westbrook since the 2017-2018 season. Another matchup versus his arch-nemesis was exactly what Dame needed to get his mojo back.
• Jusuf Nurkic dominated a pretty strong Los Angeles Lakers frontcourt that featured Anthony Davis (for like six minutes), DeAndre Jordan, and Dwight Howard. He tallied 16 points, on 6-6 shooting, and pulled down 17 boards. While he still hasn’t been the playmaking hub we’ve hoped to see, it looks like he’s playing his way into shape and should only continue to get better.
• The Blazers defense excelled against a Lakers offense that severely lacked floor-spacing. Tonight, Portland played more one-on-one defense and did not feel the need to over-help, since the paint was already so clogged. Hopefully, this game showed Portland when they need to help and when they don’t.