The Los Angeles Lakers returned to winning ways on Friday night, as they beat the Portland Trail Blazers 107-95 in the In-Season Tournament. The result improved the Lakers to 7-6 on the season, and their fans were ecstatic afterward.
One says they will win the In-Season Tournament.
winning this tourny easily
— ClarkSZN (@LukaFourThree) November 18, 2023
A fan marveled at LeBron James’ incredible performance.
Year 21🐐🤴 pic.twitter.com/2mC7dozXIq
— TimCook𝕏 (@UTDTimCook) November 18, 2023
The Lakers are cooking, a fan stated.
WE ARE COOKING 💜💛
— OnyeEzee1 (@godvibessssss) November 18, 2023
One fan thinks the team takes In-Season Games more seriously.
It appears we taking in-tournament games more seriously than Regular season games.😂#LakersWin #LakeShow
— FXMaven (@fx_maven) November 18, 2023
A fan is confident the Lakers will win it all this season.
We're winning that then Larry OB #18 💜💛
— ****** (@bka_lakeshow) November 18, 2023
LeBron James was incredible in this one, as he had 35 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 13-22 from the field and 5-9 from beyond the arc. At one stage in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers had made it a one-point game, but LeBron then hit a couple of big threes to ensure the Lakers had the upper hand.
Anthony Davis, on the other hand, had a quiet night on the offensive end. Davis finished with just 16 points but did have 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 5 blocks to go with it. He has now scored under 20 points in three of his last four games, and while one of them was a blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies, you’d like to see a bit more from Davis on the offensive end.
For the Trail Blazers, Jerami Grant led the way with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal, as they dropped to 3-9 on the season and 1-2 in the tournament. The Lakers, meanwhile, are now a perfect 3-0 in the tournament.
The Lakers Seem To Be Fixing Some Of Their First Quarter Issues
One of the big reasons why the Lakers haven’t had the greatest of starts to this 2023-24 season was because of how badly they were starting games. They routinely had to dig themselves out of big holes time and time again, but things are getting a bit better on that front.
They led 30-23 after the first quarter here and have now led at that stage in three of their last four games. The only time they didn’t, was the loss to the Sacramento Kings, where they were down 38-25. If this team can just consistently start games well, they’d have a lot of success.
Zach LaVine Has The Lakers As One Of His Preferred Landing Spots
While the Lakers took care of business here, a big move might be on the horizon. The Lakers are one of the teams interested in acquiring Zach LaVine, and the interest seems to be mutual.
LaVine has listed the Lakers as one of his preferred landing spots but he is open to going elsewhere as well. I think L.A. certainly could use someone like the 28-year-old, who’s averaging 22.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 0.9 steals per game this season.
He would be an upgrade over the likes of D’Angelo Russell, but there are some questions about how they’d be able to acquire him. The likes of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Russell can’t be traded right now while Jarred Vanderbilt can’t be traded this season. So, it might be a while before they have the assets available to pull it off but by then, LaVine could have landed elsewhere.
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