The Los Angeles Lakers have been rolling the past week, winning their previous three games heading into a rematch against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
The Lakers lost to the Trail Blazers last week, though they were largely shorthanded. The second matchup between the two teams offered a similar situation as Los Angeles ruled out Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves after the two stars played heavy minutes the night prior against the Miami Heat.
Historically, the Lakers have struggled to score when all of their stars are out but this new group was competitive throughout the entire evening against the young Blazers. While Portland looked in control in the first half, Los Angeles hung around until midway through the third quarter where they took the lead.
It was a tightly-contested game from that point forward, but by pure effort and grit the Lakers managed to
beat the Trail Blazers 123-115 to extend their win streak to four games.
Nick Smith Jr., a former first-round pick, signed with Los Angeles this offseason on a two-way contract in an effort to rebuild his value. Smith was known as an electric scoring guard, though his time with the Charlotte Hornets was cut shorter than expected due to his poor performance.
However, with Los Angeles in desperate need of guard play head coach JJ Redick threw Smith in the deep end against Portland and he delivered with a hot-shooting display. The Blazers were intent on generating pressure on the ball, so Smith used that to his advantage by scoring early and often when he had the basketball in his hands.
Smith caught fire from deep late in the game, particularly in the fourth quarter when he drained a couple of clutch 3-pointers to seal the win. Smith finished the game with 25 points on in just 27 minutes of action. He also had six assists, one rebound and two steals.
Playing against the team that bought him out seemed to bring the best out of Deandre Ayton who wound up leading L.A. in scoring with 29 points. Ayton was a force in the painted on both ends and managed to carry the scoring load with the Lakers’ stars out.
Rui Hachimura was right behind Ayton in the scoring column, hitting jumpers throughout the evening to keep Los Angeles ahead. He finished the night with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will return home to play the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday before heading back out on a five-game road trip.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
