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Through the early parts of 2026-27, the Lakers had cobbled together enough strong defensive moments that allowed their league-best offense to carry them to three straight wins.
Those moments didn’t come often enough against the Trail Blazers Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, leading to the Lakers losing their first game of the season.
Despite Luka Doncic picking up where he left off after 52 points in Salt Lake City on Sunday, the Lakers didn’t have the defensive support behind another brilliant offensive performance, falling to the Blazers 136-129 to drop to 3-1 on the season.
Doncic had 41 points on 12-for-22 shooting (6 of 15 on 3-pointers, 11 of 13 on free throws) to go with nine assists and five rebounds.
Austin Reaves was once again uber-efficient, recording 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting (4 of 8 on 3s), plus seven assists and four rebounds.
But the Blazers, who entered Tuesday with the league’s second-best offense, took advantage of the Lakers’ struggles with containing the ball.
The Blazers were led by Deni Avdija’s 23 points, nine assists and four rebounds.
Ja Morant (23 points, four assists), Damian Lillard (21 points, four assists) and Jrue Holiday (22 points, four rebounds) also scored at least 20 points for the Blazers.
The Blazers scored on five straight possessions late in the fourth to prevent the Lakers from keeping pace.
The Lakers couldn’t stop Portland from anywhere on the court: The Blazers shot 59% from the field and 50% on 3s.
The Blazers would’ve won by more if they made the easiest shots: They made just 63% of their free throws (26 of 41).