01/25: LAKERS @ Portland Trail Blazers 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome to the first half open thread and discussion of the Lakers' road matchup vs. the Portland Trail Blazers. Will the Lakers finally snap the losing streak against the Blazers? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the half.

Q2

LAL 58 POR 59

Now, that was a better half than the garbage in Dallas. Although, there were some glimpses in this half where it looked like the Blazers were going to pull away behind Lillard and McCollum, but the Lakers found ways to respond and keep themselves within striking distance. Mr. Dependable, Lou Williams is carrying this team once again, leading all scorers with 16 points. An aggressive Sweet Lou to start is a big time benefit for the Lakers. He went full throttle in the first half to get the Lakers some points to get back into the game. The bench as a whole outscored the starting unit. Jordan Clarkson is in double figures with 11 points. Ivica Zubac is almost in double figures with 8 points. The bench players were the game changers to keep this from being a blowout. Lillard and McCollum, there's no stopping them, but if the Lakers neutralize every other player, they have a chance. In the last game in Portland, Allen Crabbe stepped in and provided that extra scoring power for the Blazers. The Lakers did a nice job containing every other player. The closest scorer tonight among Lillard and McCollum is Evan Turner and Mason Plumlee is following closely. The Lakers can't afford to let any Trail Blazer not named Lillard and McCollum go off in scoring like they did earlier when Crabbe went off for 20 points off the bench. Overall, nice way for the Lakers to bounce back from an embarrassing performance on Sunday, but there's still 24 more minutes to go. The 2nd half open thread will open up shortly.

Q1

LAL 31 POR 30

Sweet Lou putting the team on his back early on. When the score was 16-24, I'm sure we had the sentiments of "oh, here we go again." Because that's where the part the Blazers just make a run. Then, the bench comes in. Tarik Black showed his hustle energy to finish the quarter. Lou Williams did his thing in providing the scoring off the bench. The bench pretty much took over the quarter to provide the spark to bring the Lakers back into the game and for the lead to end the quarter. You never know what we're gonna get out of this Laker team. Here's hoping they stay consistent through the next three quarters.