Lillard's late three halts Lakers' comeback bid in Portland
— -- PORTLAND -- Damian Lillard handed the Los Angeles Lakers a heartbreaking loss that only gets more painful with the loss of starting power forward Larry Nance Jr.
Lillard buried a clutch stepback 3-pointer over Brandon Ingram with seven-tenths of a second left to give the Portland Trail Blazers a 113-110 win over the Lakers. And, as if the Lakers' 13th straight loss to Portland wasn't bad enough, the Lakers lost Nance Jr. to a broken left thumb. The power forward left the game in the third quarter and X-rays revealed the fractured second metacarpal in his left hand.
The Lakers will face the Brooklyn Nets in D'Angelo Russell's return on Friday with a new starting power forward in the lineup.
This loss was a tough one for the Lakers to swallow. They battled back from an 18-point deficit and played well enough to win in one of the toughest buildings in the NBA.
But Lillard (32 points, 5 assists) was too much at the end. Rookie Lonzo Ball had his worst offensive game of the season, going scoreless with just four assists and three rebounds. But Brook Lopez had 27 points, and late first-round rookie power forward Kyle Kuzma came up big off the bench with 22 points. Kuzma missed at the buzzer on a potential game-tying 3.
The Lakers (3-5) have had stretches this season where they fall behind big, and this game was no different. The Blazers blitzed the Lakers in the first quarter, building a 41-23 lead just before the end of the first quarter.
Ball, who has had his best games when he was aggressively pushing the pace and looking for his shot, seemed out of sorts on offense in the first three quarters. He was engaged defensively, trying to challenge Lillard when he could. But offensively he didn't seem like himself.
Ball took just two shots in the first three quarters, one that was a poor decision after fans booed him while he milked the clock toward the end of the first before taking a 3-pointer that was blocked. Ball also didn't grab a rebound until the third quarter, which is uncharacteristic since he crashes the boards often.
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