Three Takeaways From The Lakers Game 3 Blowout Over The Blazers

After a Game 1 loss that inspired a flurry of discussion, the Los Angeles Lakers responded with a thoroughly dominant performance in Game 2 against the Portland Trail Blazers. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and company led by as many 33 points in the second half before cruising to a 111-88 victory and, in a 48-minute statement, the Lakers seemingly reasserted control of the series.

However, Game 3 looms on Saturday and, in advance of that tilt, we take a glance at three major themes of Game 2.

Anthony Davis is (still) quite good

LeBron was LeBron in Game 2, serving as an engine on both ends of the floor, but it was Davis that was the dominant individual force. The uber-talented big man asserted his will from the opening tip, scoring 11 points in the first quarter, and he finished the night with 31 points (on 13-of-21 shooting and 3-of-4 from three-point range) and 11 rebounds in only 29 minutes of action.

It isn’t ever shocking to see a player of Davis’s caliber operating at a high level but, after an inefficient performance in Game 1 (particularly in the second half), Davis left no doubt that the Blazers will have trouble dealing with him throughout the series. More than anything, it is wild to see a night in which LeBron finished with only ten points and the Lakers were able to dominate to this degree.

It helps that, after the consternation of Game 1, the Lakers made a relatively normal percentage of long-range shots, but Davis opened many doors offensively and proved that no one on the Blazers is equipped to deter him when he’s aggressive and moving towards the basket.

The Lakers turned on the jets defensively

Defense wasn’t the problem for Los Angeles in Game 1. In fact, the Lakers held the previously scorching hot Blazers to less than one point per possession and, as such, it was actually shocking that Frank Vogel’s team didn’t win.

Instead of taking their foot off the gas, though, the Lakers were even better defensively in the follow-up performance. With some help from the Blazers (we’ll get there), the Lakers held their opponent to well below one point per possession (again) and genuinely stifled Portland throughout the night.

As evidenced by L.A.’s own struggles in Game 1, shooting luck can swing games in the postseason, but the Lakers didn’t allow either Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum to generate quality looks throughout the evening. The Lakers own a size and physicality advantage in this matchup and they utilized it well in Game 2, cutting off driving lanes and forcing Portland into suboptimal shot attempts.

That isn’t to say that the Blazers aren’t “due” for an explosion as one of the most dynamic offensive teams in the NBA, but the Lakers swallowed them up on this night. Given that Los Angeles owned the third-best defense in the league during the regular season, it also didn’t feel like that much of a fluke. They were dominant against a high-octane offense.

Everything went wrong for the Blazers

As noted previously, the Blazers struggled mightily on the offensive end in this game. In fact, they were better defensively (at least on a per-possession basis) in Game 2 than they have been in the bubble at large, and the result was still a thoroughly lopsided defeat.

First, Portland no answers for Davis and, with the Lakers making a more appropriate percentage of their shots, Los Angeles made the dent that many assumed they would in this series. Candidly, the Blazers are a team driven by their offense at the highest level and, on a night in which Portland simply couldn’t find any room against a suffocating Lakers defense, there was no path to overall team success.

From there, Lillard suffered a dislocated finger in the second half, and when it rains, it pours. Quite obviously, Lillard is the key to everything for the Blazers and, while he wasn’t at his best in Game 2, Portland’s path to competitiveness in the rest of the series revolves around their point guard operating at a superstar level. That isn’t to say that Lillard can’t get there again, even if limited by injury, but the Blazers now have a much smaller margin for error after the Lakers found their mojo in Game 2.