The Lakers walked into Monday night unbeaten and walked out with their first crack in the armor, a 136-129 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena. The offense showed up in full force. The stops did not.
Luka Doncic carried the scoring load with 41 points, nine assists and five rebounds, hitting 12 of 22 from the field and 6 of 15 from deep. Austin Reaves added 26 points, seven assists and four rebounds on 8-for-13 shooting.
With numbers like that, this one wasn’t about shot-making on Los Angeles’ side. It was about what happened when Portland got the ball.
JJ Redick pointed straight at the Lakers’ defensive lapses after the game, saying the team never stayed locked into the details that matter possession after possession.
“Yeah, we just got broken down a lot. I thought the game-plan discipline and KYP personnel discipline weren’t where they needed to be.
“Sometimes early in the season, these are good learning lessons that we can all apply, both as coaches and players. How can we teach and scheme better?
“It was also an incredible shot-making game. I factor that in, too.
You had Avdija, Camara, Clingan, Ja, and one of the other guys. Yes, Cissoko.
These guys shot 11-of-15 combined from three.”
Redick said Portland kept answering, including from deep, where the Trail Blazers went 18-for-36 as a team. He also noted how the Blazers used the zone in the fourth quarter and forced the Lakers into open looks that just didn’t fall.
“Dame, of course, I know, can shoot the crap out of the ball. We kept up outside of a few minutes to start the second quarter. Then they started with the zone in the fourth, and we got wide-open threes, but none of them went in.”
He said the Lakers did create the shots they wanted against the zone, pointing to looks for Colin Sexton, Matisse and Ziaire, but the execution still didn’t translate into enough stops the other way.
“I trust Colin Sexton to shoot catch-and-shoot threes. He’s a 40% shooter.
Matisse got a look; Ziaire got a look. We got good looks against the zone.
It’s hard because we were actually getting the ball where we wanted it and executing well against it.”
Redick also highlighted Portland’s size in the paint as part of the problem, with Clingan and Williams stationed inside and making life tougher near the rim.
“Then they’ve got Clingan and Williams just parked in the paint the whole game. That creates challenges when it comes to scoring at the rim, especially when they go zone.”
His bottom line was simple: 129 points at home should have been enough.
“We got good looks, and I think we have to be able to rely on our defense every night. If we score 129 points at home, we should be able to get enough stops to win.”
“It’s a credit to Portland, for sure. I said it before the game: They were going to be a great test for us because they’re a really good basketball team. They showed that tonight,” Redick concluded.
Walker Kessler had the same read, and he didn’t sugarcoat his own part in it. He said the Lakers were solid in transition and on second-chance chances, but the half-court defense slipped badly.
“Yeah, we did a pretty good job in transition and did a pretty good job limiting their second-chance points. But in the half-court, we didn’t do a great job,” Kessler spoke on his defensive frustrations.
He said Portland kept getting downhill, getting floaters, and finding corner threes, including in transition. Then he made it clear he holds himself to a higher standard.
“Guys were getting downhill and shooting floaters. We were breaking down and giving up corner threes and threes in transition.
We definitely have to be better, and I personally have to be a lot better on the defensive side. I pride myself on being the leader on defense, and I didn’t perform tonight.”
Kessler added that there’s no time to dwell on it, with another game coming in less than 24 hours. He still framed the performance as a lesson, even if the scoreboard stung.
“But we’ll figure it out. It’s a quick turnaround.
We literally have a game in less than 24 hours, so it’s a good learning opportunity. Our offense looks good.
Scoring almost 130 points is pretty efficient, but we shouldn’t have lost. Scoring 130 and giving up almost 140 is not acceptable.
We’ll figure it out and keep learning from it,” Kessler concluded.
Kessler finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, one steal and two blocks on 6-for-9 shooting. For a player expected to anchor the defense, it wasn’t enough on a night when the Lakers needed him to tilt the game.
Now they move on quickly, with the Clippers coming to town on Tuesday night, October 28. The offense has been humming. The question after this one is whether the Lakers can tighten the screws on the other end before another shootout turns into another loss.
In Other News...
Lakers Have A Bigger Problem Than Luka Can Fix Alone
Luka Doncic delivered a 41-point night, but it still wasnt enough to carry the Lakers past Portland in a 136-129 loss that exposed how much more this team needs than one elite scorer. Los Angeles had plenty of offense and enough firepower to stay in the game, yet the bigger issue showed up on the other end, where Portland kept finding efficient looks and controlled the possession battle with its edge at the line.
The Trail Blazers didnt just ride hot shooting from deep, they also did damage inside, outscoring the Lakers from beyond the arc and in the paint. For a team built to compete now, that kind of defensive breakdown is the more troubling takeaway, because even a special performance from Doncic can only cover for so much if the Lakers keep giving away points in bunches. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Fans Will Notice Ziaire Williams Is Not Changing His Edge
Ziaire Williams picked up a $2,000 fine from the NBA for flopping in a game against the Utah Jazz, but the Lakers forward did not sound like someone ready to back off his style anytime soon. Williams said he disagreed with the leagues ruling, though he also made it clear he will pay the fine and keep playing with the same edge on defense.
Williams also said he plans to appeal in hopes of getting the money back, which leaves the episode feeling more like a brief detour than a change in approach. For the Lakers, the bigger takeaway is probably the one Williams himself emphasized: whatever the league thought of that call, his commitment to being disruptive on that end of the floor is not going anywhere. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Loss To Portland Turned On A Late Whistle Fans Will Debate
A late-season whistle can change the feel of a game in a hurry, and that was the case at Crypto.com Arena when officials handed out technical fouls for flopping in the fourth quarter. Ja Morant, Toumani Camara and Ziaire Williams were all hit with the same call in a tense finish, turning a close stretch into the kind of ending fans and players are likely to replay for a while.
Morant took issue with his own call afterward, saying he had simply raised his hands and absorbed contact, and he planned to try to get it overturned. Portland left with the win and moved to 3-0, while the Lakers dropped to 3-1, a result that will leave plenty of attention on the sequence rather than just the final score. [Read more 🡒]