The Los Angeles Lakers finally got their first win in game four without the injured LeBron James. In a low-level game, the Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 99-94.
Los Angeles Lakers (25-27) – Portland Trail Blazers (21-31) 99:94 (BOXSCORE)
It wasn’t nice, nobody in LaLa-Land will be interested. There was little flow in the game, a lot of turnovers, a surprisingly poor shooting rate from the two-pointer area, but what counted was the win. Anthony Davis (30, 10/18 FG, 10/14 FT, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks) ultimately delivered when he was needed. The Big Man scored the next 6 points of the game after Norman Powell equalized three minutes from time, taking three fouls and converting four free throws.
The “brow” was supported by Carmelo Anthony (24, 8/12 FG, 5/6 three), who was the only Laker to hit the three. Dwight Howard (10, 7 boards) and Avery Bradley (11) also scored double digits. Russell Westbrook (9, 3/12, 10 rebounds, 13 assists) missed a triple-double on points, but his matador defense was more critical.
Portland was completely dependent on the three, with the Blazers hitting an icy 41 percent from the two. Exceptions were top scorer Powell (30, 10/20 FG) and Jusuf Nurkic (16, 13 rebounds). CJ McCollum (15, 5/17) and Anfernee Simons (19, 7/18) were fickle, Robert Covington (0, 0/8 FG, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals) put up that “interesting” stat line.
The Lakers quickly gained a double-digit lead, Davis looked good again, but Anthony also helped the Lakers offense with four converted throws in a row. The guests, on the other hand, didn’t hit anything at first (0/8 3FG), but that changed in the second quarter. Led by Simons, the Blazers netted eight of their 13 triples, and even Nurkic sunk two tries in a row when Davis gave him the open shot.
Norman Powell makes Los Angeles Lakers tremble
In connection with a clear superiority on the boards (Nurkic!), the game was open in the episode, Powell made sure with the siren that Portland was only one point behind at the break (54:53). The Blazers kept the momentum going, while the Lakers kept throwing the ball away too often and suddenly couldn’t hit anything because they couldn’t get close to the basket (only 3 FGAs at ringside in the third quarter!).
So Portland took a small lead into the final section, even though they didn’t hit 35 percent of the field themselves. However, this was quickly used up because the Blazers lost the ball one after the other. Powell’s three three minutes from time at least brought the visitors back to -2, a little later they equalized from the same spot. Davis’ dominating minutes followed, which secured the Lakers’ decision in this idiosyncratic game, although Malik Monk, Anthony and Davis failed to clear things up earlier with missed free throws.
And one more amazing stat to wrap up this quirky game. The Lakers couldn’t generate a single point from the Blazers’ first 12 turnovers. It only succeeded in the 13th attempt with a Davis free throw. We can’t prove it, but that has to be a negative record.
