Shaedon Sharpe scored 25 points to help the Portland Trail Blazers roll to an easy 132-116 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
Jerami Grant added 22 points and fellow reserve Caleb Love had 22 points and seven assists for Portland, which won for the seventh time in the past nine games. Donovan Clingan registered 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Sidy Cissoko had 14 points for the Trail Blazers.
Marcus Smart scored 25 points for the Lakers, who played without NBA scoring leader Luka Doncic (left groin). Drew Timme added a career-best 21 points off the bench, and LeBron James added 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers lost for the ninth time in the past 14 games.
Maxi Kleber and reserve Rui Hachimura scored 11 points apiece for Los Angeles, which trailed by as many as 24.
Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija (lower-back strain) missed his third straight contest.
Portland knocked down 52.3% of its shots and made 16 of 42 from behind the arc to win the season series, two games to one.
The Lakers connected on 49.4% of their attempts, including 13 of 31 from 3-point range. Former Portland big man Deandre Ayton (knee) sat out.
Smart’s second trey of the third quarter pulled Los Angeles within 75-67 before Portland scored 25 of the next 38 points.
Grant scored the last seven Trail Blazers points during the surge to give his club a 100-80 lead with 4:02 remaining.
Portland led 107-90 entering the final quarter but the Lakers pulled within 115-104 on a 3-pointer by Kobe Bufkin with 7:07 left.
The Trail Blazers responded with a 15-2 flurry to put away Los Angeles. Toumani Camara drained a 3-pointer, Sharpe scored five Portland points in a row and Love scored seven straight to make it 130-106 with 3:05 left.
Grant scored 15 first-half points on 4-of-7 shooting as the Trail Blazers led 71-61 at the break. Timme had 14 in the half for the Lakers.
Portland ended the first quarter with an 18-4 run and never trailed again. Love had eight points in the period as the Trail Blazers led 40-27.
A layup by James pulled Los Angeles within 50-44 with 5:51 remaining in the second quarter. But Portland expanded the lead to 14 on two free throws by Robert Williams III with 2:37 left in the half.
–Field Level Media
