Lakers vs Trail Blazers is a rematch with bite. The Los Angeles Lakers (7-2) host the Portland Trail Blazers (6-1) at 7 p.m. PST Friday at Crypto.com Arena on Spectrum SportsNet and Amazon Prime Video, with Los Angeles favored by 2.5 points and a 232.5 total on the board. Luka Doncic just dropped 40 points in a 116-103 win at Sacramento on Wednesday and has scored at least 40 in three straight games. Portland already beat the Lakers 136-129 here on Oct. 27 and arrives on a three-game winning streak of its own.
The Lakers’ recent video on Doncic’s scoring binge, above, captures how video-game the start has looked from the outside.
Luka Doncic’s historic early surge
Doncic is averaging an NBA-best 38.5 points, plus 8.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists through eight games. He also leads the league in field goals, 3-pointers and free throws made per game. Over the last three wins he has averaged 42.3 points. Against the Sacramento Kings he added nine rebounds and seven assists in 35 minutes while Walker Kessler posted 15 points and eight rebounds and Austin Reaves scored 21. Jake LaRavia chipped in nine points, and Matisse Thybulle added three in a starter’s role that has stuck.
The Lakers say Doncic and Wilt Chamberlain are the only players since the 1960-61 season with five 40-point games in their first eight contests of a season. He is also the first player in NBA history with six straight games of at least 35 points, five rebounds, five assists and five made 3-pointers. “I’ve had some good stretches in my career. Obviously, this could be one of the highest ones, but I still have some work to do,” Doncic told reporters after Sacramento. “I came out a little sloppy. My first quarter wasn’t good, so I just came back in the game, trying to be more aggressive, be more focused.”
That aggressiveness has covered for nights when the supporting cast is quiet, but Friday’s opponent is built to punish soft possessions. Portland can score in bunches without needing a 40-point night from one star, which is why the rematch is a real measuring stick for a Lakers team that has answered every early hole with another Doncic heater.
Portland without Ja Morant
The Trail Blazers are 6-1 and lead the NBA in scoring at 121.9 points per game. They have top-10 offensive and defensive ratings and rank among the league’s better rebounding teams. Ja Morant, who scored 23 points in Portland’s win over Los Angeles on Oct. 27, is out with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and is not expected back until late November. Shaedon Sharpe (right meniscus surgery) and Vit Krejci (left ankle fracture) are also out.
That puts more on Damian Lillard, Deni Avdija and Scoot Henderson. Avdija is averaging 23.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists. Lillard scored 25 in Wednesday’s 132-119 win at Phoenix and continues to build his game after missing last season with an Achilles injury. Donovan Clingan is around 12 points and 10.6 rebounds a night. Jrue Holiday is at 13.4 points per game, and Toumani Camara adds 13.7 with defensive versatility on the wing.
The Oct. 27 win in Los Angeles was a full-court statement: 50 percent from three, 56 points in the paint and enough pace to drag the Lakers into a track meet. Even without Morant, Portland still has five starters who can create a shot, which is why national previews keep warning that Doncic alone will not be enough.
What the Lakers must clean up
Los Angeles has won three in a row after the Portland loss exposed soft rebounding, an overreliance on Doncic and leaky team defense. The Lakers are 4-1 at home and 3-1 on the road, but the Blazers are 5-0 away from Moda Center. A 2.5-point home favorite line is thin for a reason. Kessler’s rim protection (2.7 blocks per game, third in the league) has to travel from Sacramento’s soft interior to a Portland attack that loves the paint and the offensive glass.
Friday is also an NBA Cup game in West Group C. The Lakers and Golden State Warriors have already played Cup games; San Antonio and Sacramento are also in the group. Sandro Mamukelashvili is questionable with an illness after playing 19 minutes and scoring two points at Sacramento. Adou Thiero remains away from the active rotation with a knee issue and G League assignment notes. Bronny James Jr. and Cameron Carr are with the Coachella Valley Lakers. The projected starters for Los Angeles remain Doncic, Reaves, LaRavia, Thybulle and Kessler, the same group that started in Sacramento, though that is not locked until warmups.
Schedule ahead
After Portland, the Lakers visit the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, Nov. 8, then play at the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, Nov. 9, and at the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, Nov. 11. A win Friday would make it four straight before that three-game road trip and would avenge the only home loss on the resume that still stings. Reaves needs another efficient night, Kessler has to own the glass against Clingan, and the Lakers have to finish possessions without fouling the Blazers into rhythm threes.
Notes and conflicts
- Tip-off window. Listings show 7 p.m. PST / 10 p.m. ET at Crypto.com Arena on Spectrum SportsNet and Amazon Prime Video.
- Spread. ESPN’s pick center had the Lakers at -2.5 with a 232.5 total. Other books may differ by a half-point.
- Mamukelashvili. He is listed day-to-day or questionable with an illness, depending on the report. Treat him as unconfirmed until the final injury report.
- Thiero. Some roundups still list him on the injury report with a knee; others frame him only as a G League assignment. Status is unconfirmed for Friday.
- Historic notes. The five 40-point games and six-game 35-5-5-5 streak are attributed to the Lakers’ research and national outlets repeating it. We have not independently re-run every historical database.
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