The Lakers bounced back against the Blazers

Beaten by the team back to back Monday, Lakers He wanted not to repeat such a misfortune Blazers The Clippers dominated at home on Tuesday. Mission complete because teammates LeBron James (31 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists) and Anthony Davis (27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks) won in front of his audience (128-109) and was able to forget his last defeat with the sound of the bell.

A feat both logical and quiet on the part of the Purple & Gold against a group Portland considerably reduced, and this will enable them to better deal with the great program which now awaits them. Los Angeles : a road trip Six games on the East Coast and stops in Milwaukee, Washington, Cleveland, Toronto, Philadelphia or even Detroit…

WHAT TO REMEMBER

— This time it didn’t fall apart around Los Angeles. Just like two days ago against the Pacers, the Lakers used the third quarter to pull away against the Blazers. In particular, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, both (and above all) boosted by Austin Reaves, so they signed a 15-2 that tied the visitors to the ropes. The difference is that, unlike against Indiana, California’s replacements did not squander this fifteen-point advantage when the LeBron/Davis duo was rested. Back in the game, he was also responsible for killing all suspense in the final act.

— Austin Reaves, the spark of Los Angeles. The Lakers guard (22 points, 7-of-10 shooting) was arguably his team’s best player before allowing LeBron James and Anthony Davis to wrap things up in the final twelve minutes at three-quarter time. . First set up in the absence of Lonnie Walker IV, he rallied his team from an -11 first quarter to pull from 17-6 to 17-17. Then, inspired by a determined attack, he made some high-profile moves in the second and especially the third quarters to allow Los Angeles to break away. The X factor.

— LeBron James and Anthony Davis sharpened before the road test. What if this was the best game from the James/Davis duo since the start of this season? Not impossible, as the two teammates seemed to be on the same wavelength on each side of the floor for much of the night. As they did in the final quarter (22 total points) to control the Blazers and secure the Lakers victory. It bodes well for Darwin Ham’s men as six global glitzy trips against Eastern Conference teams await…

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Thomas Bryant. The Lakers center (14 points, 6 rebounds), well-served by Russell Westbrook, who came off the bench and often made two 3-pointers in a quarter, offered big things in Anthony Davis’ rotation. Energetic, active on the rebound, involved in the paint and even a threat behind the arc, he formed a nice interior duo with Wenyen Gabriel.

✅ Justise Winslow and Shaedon Sharpe. If Jerami Grant (27 points) and Anferni Simons (22 points, 8 assists) once again wrote statistical numbers in the absence of Damian Lillard, although they did not have a real impact on this part, the duo of Winslow (21 points) – Sharpe (16 points) ) deceived the level of play and promoted, while Chauncey Billups’ men had lost a lot of bench depth. Offensively, they supported the Grant/Simmons duo quite well at the five and off the bench. We’ll especially remember (and see again) newcomer Sharpe’s big tap dance, which will no doubt be awarded a top 10 of the day…

⛔ Yusuf Nurkic. Symbolic of the Blazers’ struggles inside against this Lakers team (13 offensive rebounds, 64 points in the paint and 26 more on second chances), the Bosnian was tested all evening. Limited to just 8 points and 10 rebounds in 32 minutes (2-of-8 shooting), he never saw the light consistently against Anthony Davis or even Thomas Bryant. Not a reassuring and expected performance to make up for the absence of Damian Lillard or Josh Hart…

ANOTHER SHOT FROM ARMA DEFENSE FOR THE FAN!

No doubt Lakers fans are varnished right now and this little quarterback game sponsor (MGM) looks bad…

Indeed, for the second time in a row, the audience made it possible to succeed in the shot from the midfield! This time it was not $75,000, but “only” $25,000.

$100,000 dropped in Crypto.com Arena in two games, a basket we haven’t seen since January 2020.

NEXT

Los Angeles (8-12) : Visit Milwaukee, Friday through Saturday night (1:30 a.m.).

Portland (11-11) : Trip to Utah, Saturday to Sunday night (03:00).