Blazers' Chauncey Billups Again Calls Team Out Following Loss to Lakers

The Portland Trail Blazers mounted a valiant effort at home on Thursday night, but they did ultimately drop a fourth straight game, this one a 110-102 last-minute heartbreaker against the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.

While Portland's frontcourt ably survived the absence of starting center Deandre Ayton, the Lakers made a point to expose the Trail Blazers' defense-challenged backcourt, with Austin Reaves particularly taking pains to feast off Scoot Henderson in transition.

Fourth-year Portland head coach Chauncey Billups offered up an earnest appraisal of his team's disappointing performance, per Casey Holdahl of TrailBlazers.com.

“We played hard the whole time, I didn't think our focus was great,” Billups said. “But I thought we played hard, we gave ourselves a chance. We scrapped our butt off, just didn't have enough.”

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Starting power forward Jerami Grant, who has looked rough offensively of late, had a horrific shooting night, making just one field goal — a triple — of his 12 attempts, and missing both his free throw attempts.

But breakout small forward Toumani Camara submitted another solid game, scoring 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field (3-of-4 from deep) and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, while also grabbing seven rebounds, swiping five steals and dishing out three assists.

He also continued to make a case for All-Defensive Team consideration.

TOU MUCH PRESSURE pic.twitter.com/bmQeABkY7s
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 21, 2025

Starting shooting guard Deni Avdija led Portland with 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field (2-of-3 from long range), and managed to draw lots of contact inside to get to the free throw line 10 times, making eight of his attempts.

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Los Angeles was up by as much as 18 points in the game's second quarter, but Avdija helped the Trail Blazers storm back, so by the fourth frame the Lakers' edge was cut to a single point.

“I think we played well in the second half,” Avdija reflected. “The energy was up, we were playing together, we were making stops on defense and controlling the rebound. I think that was the most important. But first half, too many second chance points for them, too many second offensive rebounds.”

12 STRAIGHT POINTS FOR DENI AVDIJA!!

Lakers & Blazers battling in the 3Q 👀 pic.twitter.com/YPwWbC0BmD
— NBA (@NBA) February 21, 2025

Henderson and fellow underwhelming recent lottery pick guard Shaedon Sharpe both had mediocre scoring nights off the bench, while offering limited defensive resistance.

The latest defeat drops Portland to a 23-33 overall record on the year (15-14 at home).

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