LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida — Anthony Davis had 31 points and 11 rebounds and the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers bounced back from an opening loss to beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-88, on Thursday night (Friday morning, August 21, 2020, in the Philippines) in Game 2 of the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
LeBron James had 10 points, six rebounds, seven assists and six turnovers. He had 23 points, 17 rebounds and a playoff career-high 16 assists in Game 1.
The Trail Blazers stunned the Lakers 100-93 in Game 1, but things went horribly wrong in Game 2. A poor performance got worse when All-Star guard Damian Lillard dislocated the index finger on his left hand in the third quarter. He left the game for good, and the team said X-rays were negative.
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Lillard was held to 18 points after ripping the Lakers for 34 in Game 1.
Davis scored 21 points in the first half to help the Lakers take a 56-39 lead. The Trail Blazers’ high-powered offense shot 35% in the half.
Early in the third quarter, Davis aggressively grabbed a defensive rebound, then fired a long pass to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a breakaway jam that gave the Lakers a 63-41 lead.
The Lakers continued to pour it on and led 88-58 after three quarters. Los Angeles led by 32 points in the period.
Most of the starters for both teams sat out the fourth quarter.