Lakers: LeBron James, Thomas Bryant Lead LA To Unreal Comeback Win Over Portland
It was a game of runs tonight, but luckily your Los Angeles Lakers' run won out. After falling down by 25 points at halftime, LA mounted an insane rally in the second half, eventually passing and later surpassing the Portland Trail Blazers, in Portland, for a 121-112 win, the team's first victory at Moda Center since December 2019.
In the contest's first quarter, LA sprinted to an 18-4 start before letting Portland back in it a bit. All told, the ageless wonder that is Year 20 LeBron James (that's just what I'm going to call him from now on) got cooking early, scoring 12 points to power LA to a 33-26 start.
Los Angeles and Portland traded blows for the first few minutes of the second quarter -- until Patrick Beverley started talking smack to Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard while the latter was taking free throws.
Their beef seemed to propel Portland, which proceeded to close out the quarter on a 33-8 run. Jerami Grant kicked off the fun with a triple:
Damian Lillard kept it going with a bevy of treys, including one from nearly the half court mark:
The Trail Blazers closed out the half up 25 points, 71-46. That's right: LA scored just 13 points in the second frame.
Never fear, though LA fans. If you need a spoiler to stay enticed, try this on for size: the Lakers' worst second quarter in franchise history led to their biggest comeback victory of the year.
The Lakers responded with a terrific third quarter of their own, narrowing the gap to just five points heading into the fourth. After a fairly dormant second quarter (he scored a quiet-for-him five points in that frame), James got back to dominating fools in the third, playing an efficient game predicated on drives.
James was more or less unstoppable, pouring in 15 points in the period:
Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook made sure to face-guard Damian Lillard actively in the third quarter, while the Lakers as a team strived to get Lillard stuck guarding the roll man on picks.
Portland still led heading into the game's final period, 91-86, but it was clear in which direction the momentum had shifted late. LA outscored the Trail Blazers 40-20 in the frame.
LA kept chipping away at the Blazers' edge throughout the start of the fourth period, but Portland stubbornly preserved their lead for a while.
A Thomas Bryant triple finally gave the Lakers the lead, 98-97, with 7:54 remaining in the quarter:
LeBron James returned for the game's home stretch midway through the fourth, and immediately showed off his excellent court vision with a tasty drive-and-kick dish to an expectant Dennis Schröder stationed in the left corner.
A few moments later, Schröder, not traditionally an elite three-point shooter, made another huge triple to get LA build a 110-105 advantage.
Bryant was probably the game's MVP tonight, pulling down 14 rebounds while using a diverse offensive arsenal (he went 4-of-5 from deep) to tie his career-high of 31 points with this dunk to put LA up 116-109:
He made a bunch of huge plays with some spectacular dunks. The LA big man is getting a raise this summer.
The Lakers won going away, 121-112.
Los Angeles outscored Portland 75-41 in a turnover-free second half on the road. James scored a team-high 37 points while shooting 14-of-24 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line. He also pulled down 11 rebounds, dished out four dimes and rejected two shots.
Bryant scored his 31 on an insanely efficient 12-of-15 shooting, grabbed 14 boards, blocked one shot, and had one assist. Schröder enjoyed his second straight solid game, scoring 24 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor (2-of-5 from deep) and 10-of-1 shooting from the charity stripe. He hovered around triple-double terrain with eight assists and six rebounds.
Starting small forward Troy Brown Jr. was LA's only other double-digit scorer, grabbing 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting (2-of-5 from deep). With the win, the Lakers improve to a 22-25 record on the year. The Trail Blazers fall to 21-25, as LA leapfrogs them to take over the West's 12th seed and inch that much closer to a play-in tournament spot and a .500 record.
