The Los Angeles Lakers returned to the court on Saturday night, hosting the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.
While the Trail Blazers were without their leader and Orlando bubble MVP Damian Lillard, who missed the game due to a knee injury, they were able to hang around against the top-seeded Lakers.
CJ McCollum led Portland with 36 points, six rebounds and seven assists, while Carmelo Anthony had his best game of the series with 27 points and seven rebounds.
Ultimately, LeBron James and Anthony Davis proved to be too much for the under-manned Trail Blazers, and the Lakers were able to close out the series with a 131-122 victory.
The Lakers’ effort on the defensive end of the floor was arguably their worst of the series, but James and Davis were able to carry them on the other end all night.
Davis finished with a series-high 43 points to go along with nine rebounds, four assists and a steal on 14-of-18 shooting. With James logging 36 points of his own, they became the first Lakers teammates with 35-plus points each in a postseason game since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in 2002.
As is normally the case, James turned in an all-around effort, also finishing with 10 rebounds, 10 assists, a steal and a block on a very efficient 14-of-19 shooting. It was his second triple-double of the series and also marked the first in 30-point-triple-double for the Lakers in the playoffs since James Worthy in 1988.
Ladies and Gentlemen, LeBron James ???? pic.twitter.com/fvdvCfBs4p
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 30, 2020
James punctuated his night by dancing to “Smooth Operator” while Davis did his postgame interview on Spectrum SportsNet.
The Lakers had one of their better three-point shooting games in the bubble, shooting 38.9% (14-of-36) from deep. Davis (4-of-6) and James (4-of-7) led the way in that respect as well, shooting a combined 61.5% from three.
Kantavious Caldwell-Pope also hit a few of his own from deep, going 4-for-9 from three and finishing with 14 points, five assists and three steals.
What’s next for Lakers
Since the Lakers needed just five games to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals, they now have some time off as they await their second-round opponent.
They will be facing the winner of the fourth-seeded Houston Rockets and the fifth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. Game 6 of that series is scheduled for Monday night, with the Rockets (leading 3-2) having the chance to close it out.
If they are able to get it done, Game 1 against the Lakers would be on Wednesday night.
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