The Los Angeles Lakers looked to build momentum off their last win when they traveled to take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
This was an important game for two teams looking to get back in the postseason mix in the Western Conference and ultimately, the Lakers came back from down big to earn a 121-112 victory.
Coming off his game-winning play against the Grizzlies, Dennis Schroder got off to a nice start in this one with two quick assists and a bucket. LeBron James and Thomas Bryant also came out hot with a pair of 3s each to give the Lakers an early 18-4 lead.
The Trail Blazers settled in from there, however, methodically cutting into their early deficit. Kendrick Nunn had a bucket late to still salvage a good first quarter for the Lakers as they went into the second leading 33-26.
While it was James and Bryant who were hot early for L.A., the same could be said for Nassir Little of the Trail Blazers. He hit a trio of triples and then Anfernee Simons hit one of his own to give Portland its first lead early in the second.
Things began to unravel from there for the Lakers as Patrick Beverley picked up a technical jawing with Damian Lillard, which only seemed to heat the Trail Blazers star up. Simons also hit three more 3-pointers and all of a sudden the Lakers found themselves down by double digits.
It was a horrific second quarter for the Lakers as they were outscored 45-13 with Lillard and Simons continuing to score at will. L.A. went into the halftime locker room trailing 71-46, being outscored 67-28 after the 18-4 start. The minus-32 point differential in the second represented the worst quarter in franchise history.
The Lakers began to chip away from their big deficit to begin the third quarter. They actually started to play some defense, which allowed them to get out in transition. Schroder found James for an alley-oop, cutting the Trail Blazers lead to 17 and forcing a timeout.
L.A. continued its run out of the timeout with James continuing to get out in transition and Bryant scoring down low. The Lakers got back within single digits in what was certainly a game of runs.
The Lakers got within four before Simons hit another 3 to end their run. L.A. did outscore Portland 40-20 in the third quarter though, making it a game and cutting their deficit to just five going into the fourth.
After Troy Brown Jr. and Bryant drilled back-to-back 3s, the Lakers fought all the way back to regain the lead, setting up for an interesting finish in the final half of the fourth quarter.
Schroder gave the Lakers a five-point lead when he hit a big 3 around the four-minute mark. All the momentum continued to go the Lakers’ way as Bryant got a pair of offensive rebounds and finished two poster dunks, extending the lead to seven and giving himself a career-high 31 points.
That just about sealed the victory as the Lakers closed it out with a Brown 3 to improve to 22-25 on the season.
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