Everybody was waiting. Lakers Nation was waiting. When would they see a true performance brought to them by Playoff LeBron? When the Lakers had an opportunity to take control of their best-of-seven series against the Portland Trail Blazers, LeBron James took advantage of everything the Blazers gave to him. Drives to the rim? Finally, in the bubble, they fell. The staredown 3-pointer? Cash money. And the attention of the referees, posting a game-high 17 free-throw attempts. After it all, the Lakers hold a 2-1 lead over the Portland Trail Blazers.
James ended with 38 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on the night. But he and Anthony Davis were an identical 11 for 18 from the field and Davis made some huge closing plays by draining jumpers from the midrange.
LeBron/Anthony Davis P&R with AD as the ball handler. Blazers end up switching it putting Nurkic on LeBron. No rim protection behind it, LeBron able to turn the corner and finish. pic.twitter.com/hLh4n7Couk
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) August 23, 2020
Davis finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks, and two steals. The Lakers also got 10 points and seven assists off the bench from Alex Caruso, as well as major minutes from Dwight Howard, who had 10 rebounds and five points in the win. Although Portland’s backcourt combined for 62 points and Carmelo Anthony also had 20 points, the Lakers made the important plays to take control of the series.
