The Portland Trail Blazers beat the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers 115-107 on Monday at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Portland put the clamps on Los Angeles in the fourth quarter, holding L.A. to 22 points over the final 12 minutes.
Gary Trent Jr. came off the bench to play a starring role, hitting seven three-pointers. Enes Kanter and Jusuf Nurkic also combined for 26 rebounds to give Portland a slight edge on the boards. And while he struggled from the floor, CJ McCollum finished with a double-double (20 points, 11 assists).
This is shaping up to be an odd season, with the Lakers losing one day after the Los Angeles Clippers suffered a 51-point defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers entered Monday night with the NBA’s best record (3-0).
Nobody will be panicking about the Lakers, but they could fall victim to more twists and turns than expected in defence of their title.
Notable Performers
LeBron James, SF, Lakers: 29 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals, one block
Dennis Schroder, PG, Lakers: 24 points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal
Gary Trent Jr., SG, Blazers: 28 points, three rebounds, one assist
Damian Lillard, PG, Blazers: 31 points, five assists, four rebounds, one block
Trent Catches Fire from Deep
The Lakers experienced Dame Time firsthand in last year’s playoffs. The conference semifinals also demonstrated how Damian Lillard’s one-man show isn’t enough to overcome an elite opponent in a seven-game playoff series.
Getting big games from supporting players such as Trent is how the Blazers get to the next level without adding another star. His 16 first-half points were instrumental in wresting the lead away from Los Angeles.
Trent was largely anonymous in the third quarter before exploding again in the fourth.
Trent made way for Lillard with 7:14 left in the game as the Blazers were up 96-91. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Lakers tied things up within two minutes.
You obviously want Lillard on the floor for the final stretch, but Portland lost its hottest scorer. Portland’s offence skidded for a bit before a pair of threes from Lillard and McCollum provided some breathing room inside the last four minutes.
To continue fighting back and eventually pull away speaks to what could be a different Blazers team from years past. This wasn’t a great performance from Portland, and it still earned a hard-fought road victory.
In Other News – Moonchild Sanelly shows off her cute girlfriend
Moonchild Sanelly has finally shown off her love in new post revealing she is officially off the market. The star took to her Twitter to share a picture of herself with her girlfriend.
The picture was initially posted by her bae and she retweeted the post.
She captioned the pics: “I don’t usually play this game buy my baby cute and I just thought y’all should know. learn more
Source – bleacherreport
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