By Kenneth Cruz, Eagle News Sports, Los Angeles Bureau
Assisted by: Jaina Pallasigui
LOS ANGELES, USA — (Eagle News) — There’s cold and then there’s ice cold. The Lakers (15-27) could not find a way to score in the second half, which resulted in a blowout by the visiting Portland Trailblazers (17-23) and a final score of 108-87. The Lakers led throughout the entire first half but returned in the third quarter not able to buy a bucket.
The Blazers beat the Lakers for the 10th straight time. They held the Lakers to a woeful 21.7 percent shooting in the third quarter. The Lakers finished the game shooting 38.6 percent and were led by Luol Deng with 14 points.
“We just stopped moving the ball…stopped talking on defense,” said Lakers Head Coach Luke Walton of his team’s 3rd quarter play. “We win when we make plays for one another and make the extra pass. Tonight we didn’t do that.”
The Lakers came into tonight’s game winning 2 in a row, which has been rare for this young team with all of the injuries and inconsistent play. A win tonight would have brought this team closer to the Blazers in the Western Conference rankings, and ever closer to a playoff berth. With half the season in the books, the Lakers will need to change gears if they hope to shock the world and get into the playoffs.
The Lakers leave Los Angeles and fly to San Antonio to face the elite Spurs (30-8). They’ll need to have a short memory and forget about tonight’s dreadful second half in order to have a fighting chance against one of the league’s top teams.