On Fri, Nov 6, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Portland Trail Blazers in an NBA Cup group stage game. In the West Group C, the Lakers opened up with a 112-95 loss against the Golden State Warriors and that was their second loss of the season. Their first one came at the hands of the Blazers, who defeated them 136-129 at Crypto.com Arena on Oct 27. Three-point shooting from Damian Lillard, Ja Morant(who was inactive for this game) and other players helped Portland get a key road win ten nights before this game. In the rematch, the Purple & Gold were prepared to continue winning as they have won plenty of games behind the great shooting of Luka Doncic, who was on a hot stretch of scoring 35 or more points, grabbing five-plus rebounds, tallying five-plus assists and making at least five made three-point field goals. Let’s see what this game would provide between two of the best teams in the Western Conference so far this season.
The game started with the Lakers missing a lot of shots from outside the paint and the Blazers making some three-pointers. With a nine-point lead after the first quarter, Portland pushed the gap up to 16 in the second quarter. Doncic was trying his best with leading the way in scoring and first half ended with a couple of momentous three-pointers. One of them was made by Sandro Mamukelashvili and the other was from Doncic, who launched a shot from the free throw line of the western side of the court and the ball arced high above. It came down and went off the backboard, with it going into the basket. An incredible 62-foot shot from Doncic put the Purple & Gold down by seven points at the half despite some offensive struggles.
The second half began with some momentum carrying over from the first half for the Lakers as the score was kept close within the first five minutes of the third quarter. Doncic continued scoring as he went to the free throw line and stacked up his point total and he made a three-pointer to tie the game up at 68. The Purple & Gold took the lead on a three-pointer made by Ziaire Williams and a couple of shots by Doncic increased the lead. The Trail Blazers were having problems with turning over the ball and the Lakers took advantage of that by scoring on fast breaks. The third quarter ended with Los Angeles having a 12-point lead as they outscored Portland 34-15 in the period.
The fourth quarter saw the Lakers grow their up to 16 points, but the Trail Blazers scored ten points in a row and kept the score tight. A couple of three-pointers by Austin Reaves and Jake LaRavia pushed the lead back up to a dozen and Doncic surpassed 40 points with his continuous stylish shooting. Portland did not give up so easily as they got to within four points, but a couple of late baskets by Doncic and Reaves along with made free throws by both of them closed out this game. The Purple & Gold had successfully defeated the Trail Blazers 124-118 and had gotten their eighth win in the first ten games of the season. Doncic surpassed his season high in points with a 53-point showing and with five rebounds and five assists along with five three-pointers, his streak of scoring 35+ points, grabbing five or more rebounds, dishing out five or more assists and making at least five three-pointers extended itself to seven games in a row. An amazing early-season feat for a certain MVP contender.
Besides Doncic surpassing his 52-point performance against the Utah Jazz on Oct 25, Reaves scored 25 points while Walker Kessler provided a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Lakers shot 45 percent from the field and despite some early struggles from deep, they made 11 three-point shots. The Purple & Gold also snagged 15 steals from the Blazers, who committed 24 turnovers and missed ten free throws. Lillard led the way in scoring along with Deni Avdjia as they both scored 22 points each. Three other Portland players scored in double figures and making 19 three-pointers was not enough for them to win in L.A this time around.
The Lakers will play two more games in the West Group C when they host the Sacramento Kings on Nov 20 and play a Black Friday road game against the San Antonio Spurs. With four straight road games coming up for the Purple & Gold, there will be a tough stretch ahead but with Luka Doncic playing the way he is, things will be looking fine for the hot-streaking Lakers in this early part of the 2026-27 season.
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