"Dame Time" Torches Lakers Yet Again

*Stats courtesy of NBA.com*

Julius Randle lead all Lakers in scoring, recording a near double-double of 21 points and 9 rebounds to go with 2 steals. But, the Lakers couldn't find an answer for Damian Lillard's 4th quarter explosion as the Blazers beat the Lakers for the 15th straight time 108-103, snapping the five-game winning streak. KCP also recorded near double-double numbers with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Lonzo Ball cooled off with 10 points and 2 steals, Kyle Kuzma added 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks, Brook Lopez added 14 points to go with 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. I.T. once again lead the 2nd unit with 19 points and 7 dimes.

Final Score: vs. Portland 108-103 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20180305/PORLAL#/recap

Next Game: vs. Orlando (03/07)

Highlights: *Courtesy of MLG Highlights*

Another game, another loss to Portland. As a fan, when you have a long losing streak to a team such as the Blazers since Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum came into the spotlight, it gets sickening. I.T.'s missed free throw in the final seconds is a big what-if. Even if he made it, the Lakers need to get a clear shot to go for the tie or win it at the buzzer. We can't completely blame I.T. on the missed free throw because the Lakers, outside of the early 1st quarter start and the 3rd quarter weren't that good. Defensively, they didn't put the clamps on until the 3rd quarter. There should've been more on-ball pressure throughout the game as Dame and McCollum were getting all kinds of open looks. The Lakers were also ice cold to start. The one thing that griped me was that they were rushing all kinds of shots when they ballooned their lead over the Blazers to double digits in the 2nd half. The Lakers tried to go for the knockout blow by playing a little hero ball and it backfired on them and I'm sure Dame was licking his chops that the Lakers were settling for rushed shots from beyond the arc. Credit where it's due, he torched the Lakers defense in the 4th quarter. Lonzo had no answer for him on the defensive end. That's when things turned for the worst for the Lakers and they wound up losing to the Blazers yet again. For the namesake of this blog, Dame to the Lakers is what LaDainian Tomlinson was to the Raiders. They just light it up in crunch time. And if you're a Raider fan like I am, I just brought back memories of those times when LT used to torch the Raiders all those years with the Chargers. Dame is doing the same thing and the last 15 games against this team proved that. I'm afraid to say that as long as he's in his prime, I don't think he's going to let the Blazers concede to the Lakers as long as he's around.

Lakers Drop Lead, Game vs. Blazers

Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' road matchup vs. the Portland Trail Blazers where the Lakers drop another tough one on the road, losing to the Blazers 109-118.

The one thing I'm hoping from this Lakers team is that I hope they take all these road games where they blow a lot of leads to heart and work on protecting a lead. This game added to those road woes where the Lakers come out guns blazing, they build a lead to close out the first half, and they feel good about. Then, in the 2nd half, they forget to play their game and disaster happens. It's growing pains.

(+)

Julius Randle, 17 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal. Not the greatest of games for Randle, but he still in some way puts up monster numbers, recording yet another double-double. He got off to a good start tonight, didn't do much until late in the 3rd quarter. Randle woke up in between the 3rd quarter and 4th quarter and started to take the game over. There was nothing Mason Plumlee or anybody else defending could do against Randle's power and versatility.

Brandon Ingram, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block. Trust me when I say this, Ingram will break out eventually before the season wraps up. He's slowly finding his range from beyond the arc, notching a pair of three pointers tonight. Ingram's starting to be more assertive on both ends on the floor, which is encouraging to see. As fans, we gotta stay patient.

Jordan Clarkson, 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals. Clarkson continues to make his case for Sixth Man of the Year. Last game, he was great at attacking the basket on the Grizzlies' stout defense. He replicated that tonight and found the range from 3-point land.

(-)

Screen and roll defense. The Lakers just gave up way too many easy baskets for the Blazers. The Blazers were cutting in the lane with ease tonight against the defense. Three easy baskets by Plumlee to start summed up how bad the Lakers defended the Blazers' screen and roll game. Then, Harkless, Crabbe, and Turner got into the action. They kept catching the defense sleeping all game.

Lou Williams, 10 points, 3-8 shooting. Sour night for Sweet Lou. His shot wasn't going through tonight and he made some quick momentum-changing turnovers. Williams' scoring has taken a nosedive as of late. But, he's a veteran. He'll find ways to break out of the funk.

D'Angelo Russell. Don't get me wrong, D'Lo finished off strong with a 22 point performance, but his three point game was not there tonight. He attempted eight 3-pointers, he missed all of them and he made a pair of silly turnovers to start the game. Nonetheless, inconsistency is evident in Russell's game. He went to the post up game late to get going, but it was too little too late. He should've continued to play that game and try to draw contact as he did in the first half, getting to the free throw line to get first series of points.

MVP

Julius Randle, 17 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal

The man is a beast. Like I said, numbers weren't too impressive, but he displayed tonight why his rare combination of strength and quickness make him hard to defend. 

Conclusion

The Lakers will learn soon enough. If they want to win on the road, they have to put their foot on the gas for a full 48 minutes. It's too bad Damian Lillard just had to return tonight for the Blazers after missing a couple of games. But, like I said, I hope the Lakers take these games into consideration. If they want to win and be good on the road, they have to bring the effort in the 2nd half and play their game. Nonetheless, this is part of the growing pains this season that we have to endure. This young squad will get it sooner or later. They return home tomorrow on a back-to-back set vs. Miami. Hey, if Portland can win tonight after a tough road loss to the Warriors last night, the Lakers can certainly rebound against the Heat. I'll see you guys later. 

01/05: LAKERS @ Portland Trail Blazers 2nd Half Open Thread and Discussion

The 2nd half of the Lakers-Blazers matchup in the Moda Center. As usual, leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the game.

Q4

LAL 109 POR 118

Growing pains. This has been the narrative for the Lakers all season long on the road. They play well in the first half, but in the second half, they get lackadaisical with their game. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum did their damage, but Evan Turner stepped up for the Blazers, making it much more difficult for the Lakers defensively to close this game out. Road woes continue here for the most part. Stay tuned for the full recap. 

Q3

LAL 84 POR 84

I noted this in the comments, 2nd half performances on the road have been tough for the Lakers all season long. This quarter should come no surprise. I thought they got too careless and that's the unfortunate part of this process. The Blazers storm right back and eventually took the lead, but Julius Randle helped the Lakers tie it up. He's been quiet since the first quarter. It's time for him to take control and use that size, power, and speed to take this game over. 

01/05: LAKERS @ Portland Trail Blazers 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome in to the first half open thread and discussion of the Lakers' Thursday night road matchup vs. the Portland Trail Blazers. Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the half.

Q2

LAL 62 POR 53

Impressive 2nd quarter for the Lakers until the later stages of the quarter. They couldn't quite replicate their performance against the Grizzlies Tuesday night, but this'll do. How about Brandon Ingram? This might be the breakout game that we've been waiting for, but I'll hold that in for a bit. But, I think he's starting to be more assertive and tonight is a good start. He's starting to find the range a bit from the three point land and he's being aggressive on both sides of the ball tonight. With Luol Deng out, he'll be getting a lot of opportunity to build up confidence in his shot and abilities. Randle and Mozgov got off to a good start to get the offense going and Clarkson turned it on off the bench, attacking the basket and also doing it on the defensive end, notching 2 steals. They're going to need more of those stats defensively. Lillard and McCollum will have their way, but they gotta stop giving up easy baskets. They are being too over committed on one Blazer and another player cuts behind them for an easy deuce. That was apparent with Mason Plumlee and guys like Crabbe and Harkless. The Lakers need to defend the screen and roll better while continuing to play unselfish, aggressive basketball like the game against the Grizzlies on Tuesday. The 2nd half will open up shortly.

Q1

LAL 24 POR 29

The Lakers had a rough start early on this quarter. Down 0-6, a pair of turnovers to start, these are signs of a young team. But, they started to come on offensively with Mozgov and Randle being aggressive. I thought Russell was also aggressive. He was drawing all kinds of contact from the Blazers' defense to get to the free throw line. Defensively, the issues are still apparent. Damian Lillard showed no signs of rust, returning from injury and starting perfect from the field. But, they allowed three easy by Mason Plumlee as a result of over committing on the double team. Lakers end the quarter down by five, so there's still plenty of time to get in this game. This is especially important now that Lillard is on the bench and C.J. McCollum is off to a slow start.

Blazers Lay Down the Hammer on Lakers

Alright welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Portland Trailblazers where the Lakers made it a game in the first three quarters thanks to Jordan Clarkson, but the Blazers were just simply too much as the backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J, McCollum  helped the Blazers rout the Lakers 107-77.

It's about time that I was able to cover a game. I can tell there has been a lot of frustration about the lack of Laker content on the blog and yes I take full responsibility for that. However, I've said this in the past and I'll say it again, I do have a life outside of this blog and most of the personal agenda I had to deal with overshadowed my time here covering the games, so I apologize for that and like I said, I take responsibility. Let's get to this game, though, not a surprising result. The Lakers did all they could to hang in there, but Portland's just too good, they have a playoff spot to up themselves at even more. For some Laker fans, it's another frustrating loss, but that gives the Lakers in a good position to draft higher. If you ask me, I have no say on this other than the fact that I just want this team to be playoff relevant again rather than a dumpster fire consisting of D-League players disguising themselves as NBA pros. Whatever it takes, just get them back there.

(+)

Jordan Clarkson, 27 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 12-20 shooting. Behind this dumpster fire, lies a diamond in the rough and Clarkson continues to shine in his rookie year despite a lackluster season. I've always wanted to see him in action as in my quick recaps, he's always been the top performer, the leading scorer. All I can say is that I've finally saw some evidence of one of Clarkson's spectacular games. Back to back threes in the 2nd quarter, a buzzer beater in the 3rd quarter, he was giving the Blazers defense all kinds of fits with the game he played tonight. He's been working on that jump shot because all he was known for are his floaters and attacking the rim for a layup, but once he's polished that jump shot, the sky is the limit. I hope he continues to work and with Randle coming back, hoping he improves and gets healthy, the Lakers have something to build around for the future. As delusional as this sounds: Jordan Clarkson for Rookie of the Year, although it probably won't happen by a long shot.

(-)

Field goals. Just go in already would you? The Lakers are lucky to at least have a 37% shooting from the field from this game because this was atrocious. Balls grazing the rim, air balls, balls falling in and out of the hoop, hitting the back of the rim, it was complete garbage all around for the offense. They just couldn't buy a bucket all game long, not even in garbage time when the Blazers are already resting their starters.

Jeremy Lin, 4 points, 1-9 shooting. Lin was a big time contributor as to why the whole team sucked in terms of shooting the ball. It's likely he's going to be out of LA once this season is all said and done. He's been up and down all season long, but this game just put an icing on the cake as he was just throwing up a lot of bricks. I don't know if it was an off night, but Lin was put on ice this game and he didn't even dish out a single assist.

Big men. Aside from Tarik Black's 5-10 shooting, Ed Davis, 2 points, 1-3 shooting, Jordan Hill, 0-1, Carlos Boozer, 0-4, Robert Sacre, 0-2. The fact that Sacre even played speaks volumes that this Laker team needs a big man that can post up, work for his shot, and score. Wesley Johnson's undersized, Ryan Kelly's undersized. Despite the fact Wes did grab a monster 15 boards, the Lakers are in need, they're in dire need to get a big man since Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum to score, grab rebounds, and go toe to toe with the opposing team's big man.

Conclusion

Overall, it is what it is. The Lakers are completely "talent-less" with that current roster. They'll compete, but against the more superior teams? They won't have a chance. The Blazers missed a couple of shots that kept the Lakers' door open, but once they make them, you can kiss the game goodbye. But, it is what it is and the Lakers are contempt to position themselves into a top pick as much as possible. A couple more games left, season's almost over. The Lakers have two games against the Clippers, I won't cover the game on Sunday when the Lakers "host" the Clippers, but I will cover the Tuesday game when they're on the "road" against the Clippers. I'll see you guys later.

04/03: LAKERS vs. Portland Trailblazers Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: POR 107 LAL 77

Reality check: Outside of Jordan Clarkson, this Laker team is just void of talent. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: POR 74 LAL 63

It's times like this is where I'm proud to be a Pinoy. Considering Clarkson's half Filipino, he's giving me a lot more glimmer of hope for the future once Kobe retires. He's playing out of his mind right now and he's one the primary reasons why this Laker team is hanging around despite being outperformed by the Blazers all day. Hey if the Blazers keep missing and the Lakers keep building their momentum around Clarkson, an upset can happen.

Q2:

Score: POR 52 LAL 39

The majority of the quarter was a snooze fest, until Jordan Clarkson happened. I am starting to believe that the rookie is going to have a bright future ahead of him. Though the Blazers were in control most of the game, the Lakers, as much as they've been clamping down, they're fighting out there and they're feeding the momentum around Clarkson. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: POR 26 LAL 12

I know the Lakers are tanking, but somebody please stop Damian Lillard. Aside from Jordan Clarkson scoring the first few buckets to get the Laker offense rolling, everything has just been lackluster. Not a lot of effort to get back on D in transition, too many bricks, Carlos Boozer making a floater that ended up being an air ball. The Blazers are meaning business heading into the playoffs and that's why they're up 14 thanks to Lillard's hot start.

LAKERS vs. Blazers Halftime Post

Score: POR 52 LAL 39

Alright welcome in to the halftime post of the Lakers' matchup with the Portland Trailblazers where the Blazers have a 52-39 lead at the half.

(+)

Jordan Clarkson, 18 points, 8-13 shooting. I've observed in these series of quick recaps that he's been playing well, shooting the ball well, scoring when the team needs it, and I'm a believer. Those last few threes in the 2nd quarter to give the Lakers a little spark displayed how much heart the rookie has. Despite the fact that Lillard got off to hot start, Clarkson still outscored him by two points as Lillard only has 16! He's Rookie of the Month for a reason and he has constantly continued to certify himself as a bona fide 2nd round steal.

(-)

Field goals. Before Clarkson got it going down the stretch of the 2nd quarter, the Lakers have not shot the ball well. The amount of balls hitting the rim even deprived me of a majority of my energy. The offense, with Clarkson as an exception, has not been too impressive. My goodness, it's like they're not working  to get a high percentage look.

Transition defense. The Blazers were running all over the place like it is just practice. I'll give partial credit, there were nominal defensive plays the Lakers made in transition, but they're always a hair too late to close out their man, whether the Blazers were on the break to get a layup or shoot a transition 3. The Lakers gotta have better effort than that in the 2nd half.

Bottom Line

Give the ball to Clarkson as long as he's hot. However, Clarkson has to try to get this Laker team involved through his facilitating because the energy has not passed down to the rest of the Lakers to put up a better display of offense. The defense has to do a lot better, they have to find a way to get ball out of Lillard's hands if they want to get back into this game against the Blazers. Let's see what happens.

Nick Young Has Amazing Game, But Lakers Fall to Blazers (THE REAL POST)

I'm kidding guys, late April Fools joke, but I was serious about the D-Jax signing with the Redskins, could've used him to open up receivers for Schaub to throw to, plus imagine the play actions with MJD and DMC. Anyway, that's Raider talk I'll save for later. So welcome in to the full recap where I said before Nick Young had a great performance, but it was not enough to upset the Blazers at the end of the day.

The Positives

Nick Young, 40 points, 15-26 shooting, 6-13 from 3 point land. What a night for Nick Young, even though it came on the losing end. If you're a fantasy owner and you started him today, he provided solid stats for your field goal percentage and points category and he gave me a big boost this game against my opponent in the championship round. Anyway, like I said in my halftime post, Young hasn't felt like he missed a beat ever since returning from his leg injury, he's provided decent numbers ever since he came back. Obviously a scary moment in the 3rd where his ribs accidentally bumped into Chris Kaman in a putback dunk attempt, but he managed to shake it off and drained a three, I mean Swaggy P, enough said.

Steve Nash, 10 points, 10 assists. He's been in and out of the court this game, I never expected him to play as much minutes as he did as he's trying to get himself healthy, but when Nash was on the floor, the offense was really clicking and players were finding their shots. For what it's worth, Nash didn't need to push himself to play this game, but he did, and did what he can to command the Lakers' offense, who knows if he wasn't on the floor, this margin of defeat would've been much bigger. Of course, no assumptions should be made.

Kent Bazemore, 17 points, 6-10 shooting. Bazemore's heart never ceases to amaze me and other Laker fans. He's a story in the making if he's able to keep up like this into the next season.

The Negatives

Pau Gasol, 9 points, 4-9 shooting. I'm not really going to hold it on Gasol for doing poorly this game, he's 4 games removed after suffering vertigo, dizziness from past concussions I think. I don't know, I'm no medical expert, don't want to make excuses, but Gasol gets a free pass.

2nd half shot selection and defense. Lakers gave up a lot in the 2nd half, ranging from a helping the Blazers make 3 point plays, poor shooting, and giving guys like Lilard, Batum, and Matthews open looks. The Lakers did a good job containing the Blazers team at first, but when Portland's dynamic duo in Lilard and Aldridge get going, like they did, the Blazers will put up as many high scoring numbers as they can and they didn't shoot well too, talk about insult to injury.

Conclusion

Overall, the Lakers just started to drift away in the 2nd half, and usually when they do that, the game's already out of reach, that's the pattern we've seen all season long. They were able to make runs in a couple of games, but the deficits are just too much to dig out of. The season's almost over. There are 4 more games to cover. The Lakers have another back-to-back schedule facing the Kings in Sacramento tomorrow night and their next nationally televised game is against the Clippers is April 6. I'll see you guys for that game and I'll try to cover that game as quick as possible because I want to see WrestleMania 30, even though the build for this year has been lackluster. Anyway, I'm out. Stay classy.

Nick Young Has Amazing Game, But Lakers Fall to Blazers

Alright welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers vs. the Portland Trailblazers where the Lakers tried to play spoiler behind Nick Young's 40 point performance, but they fell short as they got torched by Damian Lilard and LaMarcus Aldridge as both combined for 70 points to help the Blazers beat the Lakers 124-112.

It was an entertaining game in the 1st half, but the 2nd half, the Lakers beat themselves and it ended up costing big time. I don't want to even talk about this game. Typical of the Lakers losing this season, I'm not in a good mood, DeSean Jackson signed with the Redskins and didn't even schedule a visit to the Raiders to explore other options and embrace behind the ever faithful Raider Nation. Forget it, I'm not doing this full recap. This will take the form of a quick recap.

04/01: LAKERS vs. Portland Trailblazers Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: POR 124 LAL 112

Lilard and Aldridge were just too much this game as they turned it up in the 2nd half. Nick Young had a great performance, but the effort just fell short. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: POR 91 LAL 83

Lakers started falling off this quarter and they almost dug themselves a massive hole once again. Luckily enough, they were able to make a run and started giving themselves offensive rebounds for extended possessions. Good to see that Nash is back on the floor this quarter and with Nash on the floor, the Lakers get a fighting chance on every offensive possession.

Q2:

Score: POR 63 LAL 61

Good quarter overall, especially for Nick Young as he becomes the only player on the Lakers in double-figures this game, a near flawless shooting performance that quarter. It's a close game and once again, the Blazers are clinging onto a 2 point lead. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: POR 29 LAL 27

Nash is playing? Didn't expect that. Marshall was getting in foul trouble early and since Nash came in, the Laker offense started making a run to make the score closer at the end of the quarter, but Bazemore got it going in this quarter early and the Blazers are just chucking up shots, hoping it goes in, which is why they are holding on to a two point lead in a low scoring 1st quarter.

LAKERS vs. Blazers Halftime Post

Score: POR 63 LAL 61

Alright welcome in to the halftime report of the game between the Lakers and the Portland Trailblazers where the Blazers are top by two, but the Lakers continue to hang around.

The Positives

Nick Young, 21 points, 8-9 shooting. Wow, what a 2nd quarter for Swaggy P. Like I said countless, ever since Young returned from injury, he feels like he hasn't missed a beat putting up double-figure points regardless of shooting percentage. But this game, he got hot and he got hot in a hurry and his 21 point outburst in the quarter is one of the couple reasons why we're making this a game.

Steve Nash, 7 points, 7 assists. Obviously he left the game with a ankle injury early on in the 2nd quarter and hopefully not all is serious. At age 40, he hasn't had the game he once had a couple of years ago, but with Nash on the floor, he gets teammates involved creating open shots. Other than that, he contributed decent numbers the minute he's on the floor and was another intricate part on why the Lakers managed to rally and continue to hang around with the Blazers.

The Negatives

I haven't seen a lot of negatives, surprisingly, aside from the offensive rebounding, Pau Gasol having a bad game back, I don't know if there are is enough evidence for negatives here in this halftime post. So not a lot of negative happening, but if things get ugly in the 2nd half, then they will be addressed in the full recap.

Bottom Line

Nothing much to say on this halftime post. The Lakers just need to continue to hang around and continue to keep playing spoiler to alter the playoff picture. The Blazers are leading, but they are shooting poorly from the field and that's one of the reasons why they've been on a slump down the stretch and hopefully the Lakers can continue to take advantage of that, while at the same time, box out to finish the defense and start mustering more offense.