The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 105-98 at Moda Center on Wednesday.
The Blazers (20-27) turned to C.J. McCollum late in the fourth quarter for back-to-back buckets to extend the lead to five points, and while the Lakers (16-33) had an answer with an emphatic Larry Nance Jr. dunk, Portland sealed the deal behind Damian Lillard’s floater with :48 remaining in the fourth quarter. Lou Williams provided the scoring for Los Angeles and thrived off the bench with 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Williams hot hand kept the Lakers within striking distance though out the back-and-forth affair.
Lillard and McCollum both finished with 24 points each, and combined for eight rebounds and six assists. Portland picked up their third win over the Lakers this season, and have only one game remaining in the series.
The Lakers, as a unit, were unable to consistently shoot from the field and behind the three point line, evidenced by their 39.4 percent effort. Jordan Clarkson added 22 points in his bench role, while the starters remained relatively absent in terms of scoring, with only Nick Young finding double figures with 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep.
Next up, the Lakers visit the Utah Jazz on Thursday, while the Blazers host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
