LOS ANGELES – After Portland led for much of the first half, LeBron James and the Lakers grabbed the momentum heading into the halftime locker room and never gave it back, winning 126-117 at STAPLES Center on Wednesday night.
"We just couldn’t quite get over the hump in the second half after they made the run," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. "First quarter, we played really well after a somewhat slow start in the first minute or two, made a nice run. But when they made their run, we just couldn’t quite get over the hump in the second half. LeBron, it was a dominant performance. I mean, 19 shots for 44 points, you don’t see that very often, almost a triple double. When he’s making his threes and then putting his head down, it’s tough to guard."
James made back-to-back three-pointers before the break to give Los Angeles a 59-55 advantage. He led all scorers with 16 points (4-4 3-PT) in the first half, and it turned out he was just getting started. His finishing line included 44 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
"(James) is pretty good. Passed Wilt Chamberlain (in scoring) so that tells you how good he's been historically," said Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum of his fellow Ohio native. "When he's hitting threes from 35 feet, it's hard to guard him. He can always get to the basket, make plays for others, but when the jumpshot is falling I think that kind of opens everything up for him."
Despite the loss, the Trail Blazers still rank second in the West at 10-4, while dropping to 3-2 away from home with five games to follow on this long road trip. The Lakers improve to 8-6 with their fourth consecutive win while snapping Portland’s four-game winning streak in the process.
Los Angeles has now defeated Portland in consecutive meetings after the Lakers’ win at Moda Center on Nov. 3 snapped a string of 16 straight wins in the series by the Blazers.
The Trail Blazers jumped out to an 11-point lead during a first quarter that saw them make 6-of-9 three-point attempts. Jusuf Nurkic recorded three of his season-high four blocked shots in that first period to go with a final line of 21 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year.
Damian Lillard led Portland with a near triple-double of his own – 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds – with CJ McCollum adding another 23 points and Portland getting 18 more from Al-Farouq Aminu.
"Offensively we did a good job most of the game," said Stotts. "We passed the ball well, we made our threes early. On the night, we shot our threes if you look at the box score. Offensively it was a good night for us. It was just we couldn't quite get over the hump defensively."
With the starters providing most of the offense, Portland’s bench had a rare low-scoring night with just 18 points. Seth Curry sustained a left knee injury and did not play in the second half.
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'We had a few times on offense where we'd miss a shot, we make a stab in the backcourt, they throw it ahead, boom, boom, three. Not communicating on transition defense, turns into a three, turnovers. All of those plays, they hurt us going the other way. When (James) is rolling, there's energy in the building, they playing well, we've got to be a lot sharper." -- Damian Lillard
NEXT UP
The Trail Blazers head to Minneapolis to take on the Timberwolves in the second game of a six-game road trip Friday night at the Target Center.
"They're going to be a hungry team, they just made a trade so guys are going to be eager to play," said McCollum. "We've got to get back to the basics: defense, not give up so many offensive rebounds and give ourselves a better chance."
Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.