Blazers beat Lakers in clash of unbeatens

Deni Avdija registered 23 points and nine assists and Ja Morant also scored 23 points to help the balanced Portland Trail Blazers post a 136-129 victory over the host Los Angeles Lakers.

Jrue Holiday added 22 points off the bench and Damian Lillard notched 21 points as Portland won its third straight game to open the season on Tuesday night.

Robert Williams III had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Toumani Camara added 12 points for Portland. Avdija, Lillard and Camara each drained four 3-pointers as the Trail Blazers hit 18 of 36 from behind the arc.

Luka Doncic recorded 41 points and nine assists for the Lakers two days after he scored 52 points against the Utah Jazz. Austin Reaves added 26 points and seven assists as Los Angeles lost for the first time in four games.

Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 17 points, Walker Kessler had 13 and Ziaire Williams put up 11 for the Lakers, who shot 56.2 percent from the field and made 17 of 43 (39.5 percent) from 3-point range. Doncic shot 6 of 15 from long range, and Reaves was 4 of 8.

Portland shot 59 percent overall. Donovan Clingan finished with nine points and 10 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.

Portland led 128-124 after Avdija connected on a trey with 2:59 remaining. Williams hit a trey for the Lakers 23 seconds later to make it a one-point margin.

Morant’s floater gave the Trail Blazers a 130-127 edge with 2:01 left. Morant hit another shot with 1:24 to play before Doncic answered with a short shot to cut Los Angeles’ deficit back to three with 1:06 remaining.

Lillard then buried a 3-pointer to give Portland a 135-129 lead with 43.1 seconds left.

Doncic and Reaves both missed 3-point attempts on the next Lakers’ possession, and Holiday later split two free throws to make it a seven-point lead with 18.3 seconds left as Portland closed it out.

Mamukelashvili made two 3-pointers during a 7-0 run to close the first half and Reaves and Doncic opened the second with treys to give the Lakers a 79-68 advantage.

Los Angeles later led 97-88 after a 3-pointer by Reaves and a basket by Doncic before the Trail Blazers scored 14 of the final 20 points in the period to trail 103-102 entering the fourth quarter.

Lillard drilled a 3-pointer to give Portland a 108-105 lead with 9:10 remaining in the game. A trey by Camara increased the gap to 114-106 with 8:31 to play.

Los Angeles answered with a 10-2 spurt. Reaves’ jumper ended the run and tied the game at 116 with 5:33 left.

Doncic scored 24 points in the first half as the Lakers led 73-68. Morant had 15 first-half points for the Trail Blazers.-AP

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