The Los Angeles Lakers are in a less-than-ideal situation to start the playoffs as they lost Game 1 of their first-round series to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. Making matters even more precarious for the Lakers, they are facing, in the opinion of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, the NBA’s best player at present: Damian Lillard.
Smith and Max Kellerman broke down the results of Game 1 on Wednesday’s episode of First Take and while there was plenty of discussion about what the Lakers were unable to do, Smith wanted to credit the play of Lillard, who had a game-high 34 points and five assists in last night’s win.
The Lakers have struggled to find their offense throughout the bubble, posting the third-worst offense throughout the seeding games and following it up with a 93-point output last night. Last night was also Portland’s first win across the entire season in which they scored 100 points or less.
