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The Portland Trail Blazers struggled from the field after taking an early lead against the LA Lakers who rushed to their second win of this Western Conference series. LeBron James led all scorers with 38 points while Damian Lillard had 34 of his own.
After suffering a shock defeat in the season opener, the LA Lakers are slowly hitting top gear and have now two consecutive victories to show for their efforts. Zach Collins' absence continued to take a toll on the Portland Trail Blazers with three starters playing 42 minutes.
Let's dive straight into the five talking points for Game 3 between the Portland Trail Blazers and LA Lakers.
#1 LA Lakers struggle from the free-throw line again
The LA Lakers have used their size advantage to drive to the basket when the shots aren't falling as regularly. The same was the case today as well and they drew a lot of calls to put the Portland Trail Blazers in foul trouble. However, they just didn't make the most of it.
LeBron James has had issues with free throws throughout his career but he still managed to make 12 of his 17 attempts. Anthony Davis though had a complete shocker. Davis is a career 80% free-throw shooter but went only 7-of-14 from the foul line.
The LA Lakers had a huge advantage in this regard as they attempted 43 free-throws as compared to 19 for the Portland Trail Blazers. Frank Vogel's men were lucky that the 15 misses did not come back to haunt them.
#2 LA Lakers' size too much for the Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers boast of a high octane offense that can get it done both from downtown and inside the paint. Yet, Terry Stotts' side failed to shoot the ball well for the third consecutive game in a row. This was the first time they went over 40% from the field and we're seeing their flow crumble regularly after good starts.
The LA Lakers have been a brilliant defensive team all season long and their size has played a huge role. Alex Caruso was their shortest player on the court today and at 6'5, he packs a considerable punch himself.
Their team effort was capped off by the play in the last quarter where the Lakers managed three consecutive blocks in the same possession.
#3 Another woeful night for Portland Trail Blazers' bench
With Zach Collins out for the season, the Portland Trail Blazers now have even fewer players coming off the bench in Orlando. The starters take much of the load anyway but the second unit was especially mediocre today.
Only four additional players made it to the rotation on Saturday night but they accounted for a paltry 8 points on a combined 3-of-13 shooting.
Gary Trent Jr. had a phenomenal run off the bench during the seeding games where he averaged nearly 17 points while shooting over 50% from the field. He's yet to find his footing in the playoffs though, with tallies of 5, 8, and 6 points respectively in the three games, all on poor accuracy.
Also read: 5 Reasons why Portland Trail Blazers can eliminate LA Lakers in NBA Playoffs 2020
#4 Damian Lillard has a tough second half
The LA Lakers have managed to restrict Damian Lillard for the second time in a row. After another good first half where he had 19 points, including 14 in the first quarter, Dame just went amiss from the field.
Lillard still managed to get to the free-throw line a lot and ended the night with 34 points but went 2-of-9 in the second half and missed all of his attempts from downtown in the final quarter of the game.
CJ McCollum also dried up after getting 20 points by half-time. Had Carmelo Anthony not turned up with 13 of his own in the third quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers would've been blown out of the water much earlier.
Both Lillard and McCollum need to find a way to keep their offense going regularly throughout the game if the Portland Trail Blazers are to make a comeback in this series.
#1 LeBron James shoots efficiently to steer LA Lakers to victory
LeBron James had a tough time buying a bucket in the previous two games of this series, shooting at 42% from the field and managing only 10 points in the previous outing. He had only made one trey so far before this match-up but went 4-of-8 from downtown in Game 3.
King James brought all the moves for the LA Lakers and torched the Portland Trail Blazers from everywhere on the court. His playmaking didn't take any hit either as LeBron ended the tie with 38 points, 8 assists, and 12 rebounds while going 11-of-18 from the field.
AD also shrugged off a bad start to record 29 points and 11 rebounds of his own as the LA Lakers overcame the Portland Trail Blazers comfortably.
Also read: NBA Playoffs 2020 - 5 Bold predictions for the first round
