One week after defeating the Lakers, the Portland Trail Blazers will look to do it again when they host Los Angeles on Monday night.
The Trail Blazers recorded a 122-108 road win over the Lakers on Oct. 27. It was their second straight win over Los Angeles after losing their previous six matchups.
Portland will be better rested for the rematch as it hasn’t played since Friday’s riveting 109-107 home victory over the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers knocked off the visiting Miami Heat 130-120 on Sunday night for their third straight victory and then boarded the late-night flight to the Pacific Northwest.
Luka Doncic said it was time to “get some rest” after the contest. He had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his 83rd career triple-double.
Doncic and his teammates ripped off 77 first-half points against Miami en route to the team’s highest-scoring output in seven games so far this season.
“Yeah, 130 points is pretty awesome,” Doncic said. “We shared the ball really well. I feel like we missed a lot of open shots so there’s room for improvement.”
Doncic scored 43, 49 and 44 points in his first three appearances. Sunday’s point total allowed him to set a Los Angeles record with 165 points in his first four games of the season. That broke the franchise mark held by the legendary Jerry West (154 in 1969-70).
Austin Reaves added 26 points and 11 assists while early-season sensation Jake LaRavia scored 25 points off the bench for his second-best scoring effort of the campaign.
“He’s allowing the game to come to him,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of LaRavia. “Not surprised he’s found a level of comfort. He’s got a knack for the game and is solid in a lot of areas.”
Doncic and Reaves both were just 9-of-22 shooting. Doncic was 1 of 11 from behind the arc and Reaves made 4 of 14.
“I think we both played terrible (Sunday night),” Doncic said. “We didn’t make shots, but everybody stepped up and we shared the ball pretty well and that’s how we got a win.”
Reaves scored 41 points in the recent loss to Portland when Doncic (sprained finger/bruised leg) joined LeBron James (sciatica) on the sidelines.
Portland received 25 points from Deni Avdija. Jrue Holiday added 24 and Jerami Grant had 22.
The Trail Blazers also have won three straight games.
Portland trailed Denver by 10 points after three quarters on Friday but later scored the game’s final seven points to land the victory. Grant’s two free throws with 1.4 seconds left accounted for the winning points.
“I’m just impressed with the character that we show night-in and night-out,” Avdija told reporters. “We keep being consistent on defense. We’re being better also in closing games, so that’s important. But our identity, man, I love our identity. We’re physical, it’s not easy to play against us.”
Avdija scored a team-best 23 points and has scored 20 or more in five of six games. He’s averaging a team-best 22.7 points.
Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter was impressed with his club’s resilience.
“The guys were ready, prepared and just brought their ‘A’ game,” Splitter said of the win over Denver.
Portland guard Shaedon Sharpe (calf) is probable for Monday’s game. He matched his season high of 19 points against Denver.
Lakers center Deandre Ayton (back) sat out against the Heat and his availability will be determined Monday. Ayton, who spent the previous two seasons with the Trail Blazers, had 16 points and eight rebounds in last week’s game against Portland.
Trail Blazers guard Blake Wesley broke his right foot in Friday’s game. A timetable for his return hasn’t yet been set.
–Field Level Media
