Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers road matchup vs. the Portland Trail Blazers in a back-to-back set where the Lakers had a chance to rain on the parade of 40th anniversary of the Blazers' lone championship season and snap their 10-game losing streak against the franchise. But, they found a way to lose again, falling to the Blazers 98-105.
Too many blown opportunities in that fourth quarter. Honestly, the Lakers have to be completely sick to their stomach losing to the Trail Blazers yet again. The Lakers had momentum when Lou Williams drained three straight 3-pointers. Then again when Nick Young hit back-to-back three pointers for the tie and the brief lead. But, they couldn't score two! They couldn't score two! Are you kidding me? Too many chances they could've ballooned the three point lead, but they missed a lot of shots down the stretch. A better effort than Sunday's outing against the Mavs, but this is more frustrating because the Lakers still couldn't figure out a way to close out on the road.
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Lou Williams, 31 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 10-20 shooting. Just another day in the office for Sweet Lou. His fast start in the first quarter was the needed spark to put the Lakers back in the game when it looked like Portland was about to blow them out. In the fourth quarter again, it looked like the Blazers were gonna blow out the Lakers, but Sweet Lou drains three straight 3-pointers to bring momentum back to the Lakers. He missed a couple of key shots for the Lakers take the lead, but scoring-wise, he carried the scoring load for the team all night long with the exception of Clarkson because the starters weren't doing anything.
Jordan Clarkson, 22 points, 3 rebounds, 8-15 shooting. Some nights, Clarkson will settle for outside shots. Some nights, he'll attack the paint. When he finds a balance, that's when JC's at his best. That was on display tonight. Clarkson hit a pair of threes and found open lanes to drive towards the basket. This was one of Clarkson's better games this month.
Nick Young, 15 points, 5-10 shooting. The only starter who did anything. It was a relatively quiet game for Swaggy P tonight. He got off to a good start in the first quarter, hitting his first two shots. He didn't show up until the fourth quarter where he drained two straight 3-pointers for the tie at 91 and to put the Lakers up 94-91 before the team folded late in the fourth.
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Julius Randle, 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4-9 shooting. All you had to do was make a few layups Jules. I'm one of the few who defends Randle's game because of his potential, but I won't deny he's a living enigma. Tonight he resorted back to the out of control Randle we know. He seriously has to improve on his ball handling. Randle's 4th quarter showing tonight exemplified boneheadedness on his part.
The rest of the starters (except Nick Young). Timofey Mozgov, 0 points. Jose Calderon, 0 points and a potential spot on Shaqtin' a Fool for passing the ball to the side referee. Luol Deng, 4 points, 2-7 shooting in his return. Garbage. There's no other way around it.
Brandon Ingram, 0 points, 0-5 shooting. My goodness, Ingram came crashing down hard this week. He's been playing well this month. I don't know if it's because Deng returned to the lineup, but not the way for Ingram to close out the month of January with two bad performances.
MVP
At this rate, Sweet Lou is going to get all the MVP honors for every Laker game I cover that's on National TV. This guy deserves Sixth Man of the Year honors.
Conclusion
An embarrassing blowout loss on Sunday. A frustrating loss tonight. I don't know how tomorrow's game @ Utah is gonna unfold. But, closing out on the road seriously needs to be a point of emphasis for the Lakers at this point of the season. It's a young team, there's growing pains. However, I'm looking at the veterans on this roster who know what it takes to close a game out on the road to step up and show the young players the ropes on how to win in a hostile environment. I don't know the Lakers' current road record, but the struggles are evident. They have to learn and the veterans need to take charge. They get another shot tomorrow in Utah. The Jazz have dropped a pair of games lately, but they're always a tough outing on their home floor. I'll see you guys tomorrow night for that game.
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