After the Los Angeles Lakers revealed their new look to mixed results on New Year’s Eve, they return to the court Thursday when they play host to the Portland Trail Blazers.
In the Lakers’ first game since reserve point guard D’Angelo Russell was traded to the Brooklyn Nets and Austin Reaves was entrusted with a higher-profile role, the Lakers lost 122-110 at home to the NBA-best Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
Reaves wasn’t shy about his expanded role in the Los Angeles offense, scoring 35 points while handing out 10 assists and grabbing nine rebounds. Anthony Davis had 28 points and 13 rebounds, and LeBron James added 23 points in his first game since turning 40 on Monday.
And while the Lakers lost for just the second time in seven games, they appeared to be more of a cohesive unit than they were during a 134-110 blowout defeat at Cleveland on Oct. 30.
“I think we’re trending in the right direction,” Davis said after Los Angeles went 9 of 35 (25.7 percent) from 3-point range. “We just missed a ton of shots, wide-open looks that we missed. We make half of those, it’s a different game. … I think we could definitely be better on both ends of the floor, but I’m not disappointed where we are right now.”
Dorian Finney-Smith, who was acquired from the Nets in the Russell trade, made his Lakers debut with a passive 20 minutes, going 1 of 4 from the floor while logging two points, two rebounds and two assists.
“It was fun,” Finney-Smith said. “Energy was amazing in there. What I expected. The building was rocking, but we didn’t get the win.”
After putting together back-to-back victories for the first time in more than a month, the Trail Blazers fell 125-103 at home to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. Anfernee Simons scored 25 points, while Deni Avdija added 17.
Portland went 8 of 36 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range, well under its season mark of 33.1 percent, which is toward the bottom of the league. Avdija committed 10 of Portland’s season-high 26 turnovers, which the 76ers turned into 36 points.
“I’m taking responsibility,” Avdija said. “I’ve never had that amount. The ball was not in my hands very good today.”
Avdija was starting in place of Jerami Grant, who was out with a face contusion. Without Grant’s 15.0 points per game and presence at forward, Portland was outscored 27-18 in the third quarter as the game got away.
“It’s one of those games that when you have all those things working against you at one time, you usually have a scary night,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said.
Billups returned after missing the consecutive victories to attend the funeral of his grandmother. Robert Williams III (ankle) returned to action but Dalano Banton (hip) missed his third consecutive game.
The teams are meeting for the second time this season after the Lakers earned a 107-98 victory over the Blazers in Los Angeles on Dec. 8. James missed that contest for Los Angeles with foot soreness, and Rui Hachimura stepped up with a season-high 23 points.
–Field Level Media
