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The Lakers’ 13-point lead had been sliced to six points early in the fourth quarter, which made Anthony Davis concerned enough to get off the bench and walk toward the scorer’s table. As he stopped to talk to an assistant coach to see what the plan was, the Portland Trail Blazers scored again, the Lakers’ lead now down to four points.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham had seen enough and called a timeout with 9:15 left.
Davis came back into the game right then and there to help restore order.
“For me personally, I just wanted to be back in the game and get control of the game again,” Davis said.
Davis did his part to make sure the Lakers stayed in control of the game, scoring nine points in the fourth, grabbing four rebounds, handing out one assist and making all three of his free throws.
Cam Reddish once again takes Austin Reaves’ spot in the starting lineup and the Lakers overcome LeBron James’ absence in a win over the Trail Blazers.
Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ 116-110 win over Portland on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena.
2
Anthony Davis steps up
It was going to be up to Davis to take on more of a load with LeBron James out with a left calf bruise.
Davis proved to be up to the task, scoring 30 points, collecting 13 rebounds, handing out six assists and blocking three shots. He was 10-for-12 from the free-throw line.
He played 41 minutes and was a plus-17 in the plus-minus department.
More important, when the Lakers began to waver in the fourth quarter, Davis wouldn’t let his team down.
He scored on a left-handed shot, converted a three-point play with a basket and free throw, made two free throws, scored in the post and assisted on a basket by Rui Hachimura to help the Lakers close out the game.
“We weren’t getting good looks offensively. We were forcing shots or no-pass shots, things like that. So, I just see that going on, I walked to the table and checked myself in,” Davis said.
3
Rui Hachimura makes most of first start
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
For the first time this season, Hachimura was asked to start for the Lakers, his role of coming off the bench having changed Sunday night because James was injured.
The transition was seamless for Hachimura, his 19 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals pivotal for the Lakers.
In his short time with the Lakers, Hachimura has been a starter and a role player.
“It’s different, but at the end of the day, it’s the same thing,” Hachimura said. “What I have to do is the same thing — play defense, get a rebound and attack on offense. It’s the same thing. Just rhythm-wise, of course, being in the starting lineup it’s easy. But for the team, if they need me to come off the bench, of course I’ll take that. It’s just I have to get in the rhythm coming off the bench.”
Hachimura was a force for the Lakers in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points in the final frame.
If Cam Reddish can be the player the Lakers envision, he could do more than help them shape their identity. He could also save his career.
His tip-in of a Davis missed shot gave the Lakers a three-point lead in the fourth and his two free throws later essentially sealed the game, giving them a six-point lead.
“We have to win, that’s what I was thinking,” Hachimura said. “Bron was out and we just have to get this win. In the fourth quarter, they came back so I knew this was going to be winning time.”
4
Austin Reaves settles in as sixth man
His new role as the sixth man for the Lakers has suited Austin Reaves just fine these last two games.
Reaves was one of the six players who scored in double figures and he was efficient in doing so — he tallied 18 points on six-for-12 shooting, two-for-four on three-pointers. He added four rebounds and four assists.
“Basketball is basketball for me — start, come off the bench,” Reaves said. “Go play pickup back home. I try to play the same way regardless of the situation, and yeah that’s really it.”
5
Three-pointers still hard to come by
Entering Sunday’s game, the Lakers were the third-worst three-point shooting team in the NBA, making just 31.1% of their shots.
They didn’t help themselves during this game against Portland.
The Lakers shot 21.1% from three, going four-for-19.
“Obviously, you can make more shots and that would be great, but there are nights like this,” Reaves said. “And you just have to figure it out on the fly.”
6
Taking care of the ball
The Lakers took good care of the basketball, turning it over just nine times to match a season low.
Of the nine players that played, no one had more than one turnover.
When Lakers coach Darvin Ham thought about moving Austin Reaves to the bench, he said, ‘It just has to make sense for all the right reasons.’ It did.
