It was another late night in the Crypto.com arena as LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers battled it out against the young and hungry Portland Trail Blazers . With both teams coming in with a loss, they were seeking to turn things around against one of their division rivals.
Despite the absence of Antony Davis , the Lakers managed to pull off the win in a rather convincing fashion. A hot start from the Blazers gave them a narrow four-point lead after the first quarter but it didn't last for long as the Lakers slowly but surely took control of the game. By halftime, the Lakers had already built a sizeable gap and they used it to cruise to the 8-point win .
For the winning team, LeBron James was the leading scorer with 38 points, 8 assists, and 3 rebounds on 15-25 shooting. Starting guard Max Christie dropped 28 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 31 minutes. Austin Reaves contributed 15 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds on 5-15 shooting.
Meanwhile, for the Blazers, Anfernee Simons gave everything he had with 23 points (8-17 FG), 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals in 37 minutes. Shaedon Sharpe was second in scoring with 19 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 1 assist on 6-16 shooting. Off the bench, Scoot Henderson totaled 12 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds on 4-7 shooting.
These two teams couldn't be on more opposite ends of the spectrum right now. While the Trail Blazers are still in rebuild mode, the Lakers are in full win-now mode ready to help LeBron c.