The Los Angeles Lakers got back in the win column on Wednesday night, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 128-109 at home to improve to 8-12 on the season.
After a rough shooting night in the Lakers’ last game, LeBron James got back on track in this one with a game-high 31 points to go along with seven rebounds and eight assists.
Even though Trail Blazers wing Jerami Grant led his team with 27 points, James played stingy defense on him all night, forcing him to get up 23 shots to earn those points.
Anthony Davis also had a strong night for L.A., finishing with 27 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Fourteen of those points came in the fourth quarter as Davis was instrumental in helping the Lakers close it out after getting a big lead.
Part of the reason the Lakers got that lead was because of the play of Austin Reaves, who got a rare start with both Lonnie Walker IV and Troy Brown Jr. out of the lineup. Reaves had a season-high 22 points on just 10 shot attempts, also getting to the free throw line eight times due to his attacking the basket.
The biggest highlight of the night came from Russell Westbrook, however. After beating the second-quarter buzzer with a deep 3, Westbrook one-upped himself at the end of the third quarter with another buzzer-beater, this time from halfcourt.
Westbrook had the home crowd energized all night with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Thomas Bryant was also solid off the bench for L.A., putting in his best effort of the young season with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists in just 20 minutes.
Up next for the Lakers
The win over the Trail Blazers came at a good time for the Lakers as it will hopefully build some momentum going into their six-game East Coast road trip. That starts on Friday night in a homecoming for Darvin Ham against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Lakers will then take on the Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons to complete the trip.
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