After the Los Angeles Lakers showed off their new look with mixed results on New Year’s Eve, they will return to the court on Thursday to play the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Lakers lost 122-110 at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who currently have the best record in the NBA, in their first game since trading reserve point guard D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets and giving Austin Reaves a bigger role.
Reaves stepped up in the new role, scoring 35 points, adding 10 assists, and grabbing nine rebounds. Anthony Davis contributed 28 points and 13 rebounds, while LeBron James scored 23 points in his first game after turning 40 on Monday.
Though the Lakers lost for the second time in seven games, they seemed to play more as a team compared to their 134-110 loss at Cleveland on October 30.
“I think we’re trending in the right direction,” Davis said after Los Angeles made just 9 of 35 (25.7 percent) shots from 3-point range. “We just missed a ton of shots, wide-open looks that we missed. We make half of those, it’s a different game. … I think we could definitely be better on both ends of the floor, but I’m not disappointed where we are right now.”
Dorian Finney-Smith, who was traded from the Nets in the Russell deal, made his Lakers debut but played a quiet 20 minutes. He went 1 for 4 from the field, finishing with two points, two rebounds, and two assists.
“It was fun,” Finney-Smith said. “Energy was amazing in there. What I expected. The building was rocking, but we didn’t get the win.”
The Trail Blazers had recently won two straight games but were defeated 125-103 at home by the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. Anfernee Simons led Portland with 25 points, and Deni Avdija added 17.
Portland made just 8 of 36 (22.2 percent) of their 3-point shots, well below their season average of 33.1 percent. Avdija committed 10 of the Blazers’ 26 turnovers, which the 76ers turned into 36 points.
“I’m taking responsibility,” Avdija said. “I’ve never had that amount. The ball was not in my hands very good today.”
Avdija was starting in place of Jerami Grant, who missed the game due to a face injury. Without Grant’s 15.0 points per game, Portland struggled in the third quarter, getting outscored 27-18 as the game slipped away.
“It’s one of those games that when you have all those things working against you at one time, you usually have a scary night,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said.
Billups returned after missing the two victories to attend his grandmother’s funeral. Robert Williams III (ankle) played again, but Dalano Banton (hip) missed his third straight game.
This will be the second meeting between the teams this season, with the Lakers winning 107-98 over the Blazers on December 8 in Los Angeles. James missed that game with foot soreness, and Rui Hachimura stepped up with a season-high 23 points.
