The Lakers rebounded from a Game 1 loss to dominate Portland in Game 2, winning 111-88 behind a strong defensive effort and improved shooting on offense. Below are the three things you need to know in advance of Saturday’s Game 3:
EXCELLENT DEFENSE CONTINUES
In the eight seeding games, Portland impressively led all NBA teams in scoring with 123.4 points per game. The one caveat: most of their opponents did not have as much to play for as the Blazers, who were desperate to win each game for a chance at the No. 8 seed. That said, the offense looked great, and in the 1st Q of Game 1 vs. the Lakers, the Blazers scored 36 points. However, from that point on, Portland has had no answer for L.A.’s defense.
How is it working? Frank Vogel has his big guards, Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with the starters and then Alex Caruso off the bench, swarming Portland’s guards well beyond the three-point line, and shading them towards the help. And that help often happens to be Defensive Player of the Year candidate Anthony Davis, who’s brilliant at sprinting up to discourage certain driving lanes or pull-up shots – especially 3’s from Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum – and still being able to recover to the rim if need be. JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard are also very mobile big men, and LeBron James is outstanding at reading those coverages when he’s involved in the action. In simpler terms, the Lakers length and athleticism combines with a smart game plan to really limit the number of open shots Portland is able to get both outside and in. We’ll see if Portland has any adjustments for Game 3.
AD’s AGGRESSION
After Anthony Davis went off for 31 points on an efficient 13 for 21 from the field, including 9 of 14 in the paint and 3 of 4 from 3, I asked LeBron what the biggest difference was from Game 1, when Davis struggled. His paraphrased response: AD was more aggressive. Indeed! Davis already had three buckets at Portland’s rim just a few minutes into the game, and no Blazer big man had much of a chance to keep Davis from going where he wanted to go. In fact, Davis credited LeBron with picking him up mentally when Davis was down due to his Game 1 performance.
You always get a dominant Davis on defense, but when he’s also able to lock in offensively, the Lakers are at their best. That’s also a reason why LeBron finished with only 10 points on 11 field goal attempts in 27 minutes before both he and Davis were able to rest in the fourth quarter with L.A. leading by 30. James was a +23 in his minutes, and Davis a +32 as AD also had success with the bench unit that finished the 1st and 3rd quarters. LeBron saw that Portland didn’t have answer for Davis inside (and out), and that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had it going from three, and he made sure those were the shots L.A. kept getting.
LAKERS SET NEW PLAYOFF RECORD FROM 3
Remember in Game 1 when the Lakers absolutely couldn’t buy a bucket, especially from 3? They hit only 5 of their 32 long-distance attempts, and had the worst “shooting luck,” according to Second Spectrum, of any team since the 2013-14 season by leaving 46 points on the board. Well, that flipped in Game 2, when L.A. hit 14 of their 38 3-point attempts, led by KCP’s 4 of 6, AD’s 3 of 4 plus 3 of 9 off the bench from JR Smith. Those 14 makes were a Lakers playoff record, surpassing the 13 set by the 2010 team against Utah when Ron Artest and Derek Fisher hit 4 triples apiece, plus 3 from Kobe Bryant in a win.
The shot quality was actually very similar to Game 1 … L.A. just made them this time. LeBron is the biggest reason why guys get open looks from 3, as the opposing defense has to collapse on him as he matriculates his way into the paint on drives, or when he posts up on the block. There doesn’t appear to be an easy answer for Portland to limit L.A.’s looks from 3, either. The Blazers suffer from a lack of size on the perimeter. Lilllard is 6’2’’ and McCollum 6’3’’, and Gary Trent, Jr. 6’6’’; and Trent Jr. is often trying to defend LeBron when he’s in. LAL’s shooters are able to get clean looks off right over the top of Portland’s guards if they’re able to contest, and are often open due to Portland trying to keep Davis and LeBron away from the rim. As such, the good looks should continue to present themselves. The Lakers just need to knock them down.
With that said, Portland is a mentally tough team behind Lillard, and the Lakers must be ready for a bigtime effort in Game 3 coming off a blowout Game 2 loss.