Damian Lillard hit a late 3-pointer to seal the Portland Trail Blazers' 136-129 road win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, handing LA its first loss of the season.
Portland improved to 3-0 despite a game-high 41 points from Luka Dončić, who continued his early-season offensive blitz. Afterward, the NBA world widely praised Lillard and the Trail Blazers' balanced scoring attack, while others took aim at the Lakers' defensive effort.
The Lakers took a 103-102 lead into the fourth quarter of the back-and-forth contest, which featured 11 lead changes. Portland went up by 8 early in the final frame before Dončić returned to the floor and helped the Lakers fight back.
Lillard and Deni Avdija knocked down consecutive 3-pointers in the closing minutes, but Dončić and Ziaire Williams responded with 3s of their own. Ja Morant then hit consecutive shots in the paint to put the Trail Blazers ahead 132-127 with 1:24 to go.
Lillard later clinched the win with his 4th 3-pointer, giving Portland a 135-129 lead with 42.8 seconds remaining as the Trail Blazers closed the game on a 15-8 run.
After missing last season due to a torn left Achilles tendon, the 36-year-old continued to turn heads, finishing with 21 points on 5-for-12 shooting (41.7%), including 4-for-8 from 3-point range (50%). Lillard also went 7-for-11 from the free-throw line (63.6%) and added 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 31 minutes.
Portland fan page Blazers Palace cited the nine-time All-Star's track record of coming up big against LA:
"Damian Lillard owns the Lakers. Look at the history kids."
"Not sure there's been a bigger Laker killer than Dame," Lakers Today's Raj Chipalu added.
Lillard had plenty of help. Morant and Avdija scored 23 points apiece, with the latter dishing out 9 assists. Jrue Holiday chipped in 22 off the bench, giving Portland four 20-point scorers.
NBA insider Brett Siegel set the bar high for the group:
"The Blazers have everything needed to be a top-4 team in the West."
One fan marveled at the Lillard-Morant backcourt pairing, which faced its fair share of doubters entering the season:
"The NBA really let Ja Morant and Damian Lillard become teammates."
LA's loss wasted another big scoring night from Dončić. Coming off a 52-point eruption against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, he finished with 41 points on 12-for-22 shooting (54.5%), including 6-for-15 from deep (40%). The two-time NBA scoring champion also went 11-for-13 from the charity stripe (84.6%) and added 5 rebounds and 9 assists.
Austin Reaves contributed 26 points and 7 assists, but the Lakers' troubles came at the other end. Portland shot 46-for-78 overall (59%), including 18-for-36 from deep (50%).
"This defense is horrible, man," one fan reacted .
The Athletic's Dan Woike also weighed in as LA's unbeaten start slipped away:
"Lakers are going to lose for the first time this season, the kind of game their detractors have feared they'd have. Offense was good, defense never got there, they lose to a team that can match their firepower."
Before the game, Lakers coach JJ Redick stressed that "the biggest thing for us is being able to get back, set our defense, and try to get our first bumps outside the paint." The Trail Blazers still piled up 56 points in the paint.
The Lakers (3-1) have little time to regroup. They face the Los Angeles Clippers (1-2) at Intuit Dome on Wednesday on the second night of a back-to-back.
A day later, the Blazers (3-0) will host the Memphis Grizzlies (4-0) in a battle of unbeaten teams at Moda Center, with Morant facing his former team.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
