The Los Angeles Lakers have thrown cold water on what had been the best offense in the NBA Bubble through two games in their first-round opponent, the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland’s 188 points over two games are the lowest total they’ve posted over the course of two games all season.
A big reason why the Lakers have been excellent on the defensive end is they have crowded Damian Lillard any time he has the ball with two or three guys at a time. They’ve also done a great job of scrambling out of those sets to close out on Portland’s shooters, Gary Trent Jr. and Carmelo Anthony, who got a little loose towards the end of Game 1 but truthfully have not gotten going in the series so far.
The Lakers have also controlled the action on the glass in both games. They have a +14 rebounding advantage over the Blazers across two games and they have thrived off of second-chance points. The Lakers grabbed 31.3% of all available offensive rebounds in Game 2, with JaVale McGee’s five offensive boards leading the way. However, Anthony Davis and Alex Caruso each had three offensive boards apiece, helping drain the Blazers after the initial first shot defense.
Saturday night’s Game 3 is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. pacific time on ABC.
