The sequel is almost never as good as the original.
And Monday night at the Moda Center, it was a lot worse for the Portland Trail Blazers.
In a matchup between teams navigating a spate of injuries and absences, the Los Angeles Lakers handed the Blazers a surprising 123-115 defeat before 17,083.
The game came just a week after the Blazers (4-3) breezed past the Lakers (6-2) at Crypto.com Arena. And for much of the night Monday, the rematch resembled the first meeting.
The first half was a sloppy slugfest, featuring a bevy of bricks, turnovers and uninspiring play. The teams combined for 21 turnovers in the opening half and the Blazers — who missed their first four field goals and committed a pair of turnovers before they scored their first points — shot just 24% from three-point range.
The Lakers played without six injured players, including All-Stars Luka Dončić and LeBron James, and the Blazers played without injured rotation players Matisse Thybulle and Blake Wesley, in addition to Scoot Henderson.
But unlike last week, when the Blazers pulled away from the shorthanded Lakers in the second half and cruised to a double-digit victory, Los Angeles and its MASH unit refused to roll over in Portland.
With Rui Hachimura torching the Blazers inside and out, two-way player Nick Smith Jr. bringing stunning scoring punch off the bench and old friend Deandre Ayton sticking it to his former team, the Lakers earned a gutsy road win while playing the second game of a back-to-back.
The Lakers rallied from an early 13-point deficit and controlled the game for most of the second half. Every time the Blazers tried to mount a rally, the Lakers fended it off, as Smith hit a barrage of threes and Ayton punished Portland around the paint. The final blows came from Smith down the stretch, when he hit back-to-back three-pointers, including one that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 117-105 with 2:26 left.
TOP PERFORMERS
Deni Avdija finished with 33 points and six rebounds, Sharpe had 23 points and seven rebounds and Jerami Grant scored 18 points off the bench for the Blazers, who saw their modest three-game winning streak end.
In the end, the Blazers were undone by shoddy long-range shooting (23% on threes), too many turnovers (18) and a shaky defense that couldn’t contain the injury-ravaged Lakers.
Hachimura scored 28 points and Smith added 25 points and six assists for Los Angeles, which shot 59% from the field.
A CENTER RETURNS
Ayton, who played center for the Blazers for two seasons, made his first visit to Portland since he and the team agreed to a buyout last summer.
And the 7-foot center felt right at home. Ayton had one of his best games of the season Monday night, finishing with 29 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
A week after Ayton’s former protégé, Donovan Clingan, one-upped his old mentor, Ayton rebounded with a solid performance, using a mix of hook shots, jumpers, around-the-rim finishes and rebound put-backs to pick up the slack for the shorthanded Lakers. He finished with season-highs in scoring and blocks and recorded his second-most rebounds.
NEXT UP
The Blazers host the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night at 7 at the Moda Center in the finale of a three-game homestand.
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