One can argue that the Lakers looked their best all season in their win against the Golden State Warriors last Saturday night. Players were moving all game, made crisp rotations defensively, had great hustle, and made the necessary clutch plays on both ends.
This new batch of Lakers get to play their second game together as they play the Portland Trail Blazers for the fourth and last time this campaign.
The last time these two teams played each other? The Lakers came back from a 25-point halftime deficit and won. Los Angeles leads the season series, two games to one.
Portland is at the 12th spot, right above the Lakers. They’re 27-29, which is 1.5 games above the Lakers at 26-31. The Blazers are 6-4 since they last saw the Lakers. After going 5-1, Portland has lost three of their last four games.
They also made moves before the trading deadline. Out are Josh Hart and Gary Payton II (in a trade that got delayed but was finally done on Super Bowl Sunday) and in are Cam Reddish, Kevin Knox, and Matisse Thybulle.
Reddish has yet to be a consistent player in the league even though he’s been touted as an all-world scorer when he was drafted. He couldn’t get it going when the Hawks got him in the 2019 Draft. Reddish would get traded to the Knicks and he didn’t find a spot for them, either. He’s hoping to finally find a home in Portland. He did play against the Oklahoma City Thunder last Friday and scored 11 points.
Funny enough, Kevin Knox is in the same boat as Reddish. Even funnier is that they were traded for each other by the Hawks and the Knicks. Knox is averaging 5.6 points for the Pistons. As for Matisse Thybulle, he’s a fantastic defensive player but sometimes, doesn’t see the floor because he can’t shoot.
I’m honestly not sure if this team got better through the trades. But as long as they have Damian Lillard, they always have a chance to win any given game. And it seems that they’re relying on him even more in the last 10 games (37.9 points and 7.5 assists per game in that stretch).
They’re still an explosive offense (ranked 5th in offensive rating). Anfernee Simons continues to blossom as Dame’s new running mate (21.6 PPG) while Jerami Grant, who made the game-winning lay-up against the Lakers in their first match-up, has thrived as a third option (20.6 PPG). Still, the Blazers are not great defensively and we’ve already seen them be susceptible to letting teams back in the game.
As for the Lakers, if we see the same energy like they did against Golden State, they should be fine. LeBron James is listed as questionable once again (he was actually at the Super Bowl on Sunday). He’s sat out the last couple of games and it’s been a little worrisome. But he and Mo Bamba were the last two players at shootaround so maybe there’s a better chance he plays. (UPDATE: Never mind. He’s not playing on Monday night.)
I really liked D’Angelo Russell being the calming influence on the team. Malik Beasley didn’t do so great in his first game as a Laker; here’s hoping he can make shots this time. Jarred Vanderbilt was amazing on both ends against the Warriors. And hopefully, Anthony Davis can look much better on the offensive end. At the very least, lie to us and pretend to look engaged.
The Lakers have 25 games left in the season. I did like the immediate chemistry with the new acquisitions (it helps that the three new players have played together before; they were all with Minnesota last season). Hopefully, they can continue that and gain momentum as the all-star break approaches.
