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Feb 21, 2025 12:55 am

LeBron James pours in 40 as Lakers down Blazers

Lakers, Trail Blazers

LeBron James scored 40 points for the second time since turning 40 and also grabbed eight rebounds while leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 110-102 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.

Austin Reaves added 32 points and seven assists as the Lakers bounced back from a dreary 100-97 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets one night earlier. Dorian Finney-Smith had 10 points for Los Angeles.

Lakers guard Luka Doncic (calf) was rested in the second of a back-to-back games.

Deni Avdija had 28 points and five assists and Toumani Camara registered 19 points, seven rebounds and five steals for Portland. Scoot Henderson added 12 points and Shaedon Sharpe had 11 for the Trail Blazers, who lost their fourth consecutive contest.

James matched his career worst of 11 turnovers, part of Los Angeles’ season-high 24 giveaways.

Gabe Vincent made two free throws with 16.7 seconds left to give the Lakers a 108-102 lead. Reaves then knocked the ball out of Jerami Grant’s hands to end Portland’s hopes.

James sank two free throws with 5.2 seconds left to sew up the 40-point effort. His first since turning 40 in December came when he had 42 against the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 6.

Michael Jordan is the only other player to score 40 points in an NBA game after turning 40. He scored 43 for the Washington Wizards against the then-New Jersey Nets on Feb. 21, 2003, four days after his 40th birthday.

Los Angeles shot 47.6 percent from the field, including 9 of 32 (28.1 percent) from 3-point range, while beating Portland for the sixth straight time.

The Trail Blazers connected on 44.2 percent of their shots and were 12 of 37 (32.4 percent) from behind the arc.

Portland was down by 11 in the third quarter before Avdija went on a personal 9-0 run to pull the Trail Blazers within 66-64 with 6:03 left in the period.

Portland climbed within 78-77 after Camara’s trey with 6.2 seconds left in the third quarter.

Early in the final period, Portland’s Anfernee Simons drove for a layup to tie it at 81 with 10:40 remaining.

The Lakers responded with eight straight points, the last six on two 3-pointers by James.

Reaves’ steal and dash for a layup gave Los Angeles a 93-84 advantage with 7:07 remaining.

Reaves later buried a 3-pointer with 3:26 left before Camara scored four straight points to pull the Trail Blazers within 102-98 with 2:44 to go.

Reaves had 19 points and James had 16 as the Lakers held a 55-47 halftime lead. Avdija topped the Trail Blazers with 10 points prior to the break.

–Field Level Media

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