Trail Blazers beat Lakers 136-129 to stay unbeaten despite Luka Doncic's 41 points

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 136-129 at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night (US time; tip-off 3am GMT Wednesday 28 October) in a meeting of the Western Conference’s two unbeaten teams, despite 41 points from Luka Doncic. Portland are 3-0 and the Lakers 3-1. NBA.com had said before the game that the Lakers were seeking their first 4-0 start since 2010.

Doncic scored 41 on 12-of-22 shooting, with 6 of 15 three-pointers, 11 of 13 free throws and nine assists, according to the ESPN box score, two days after his NBA season-high 52 in Utah. Austin Reaves added 26 points and seven assists.

Portland had six players in double figures. Deni Avdija and Ja Morant scored 23 each, with Avdija adding nine assists, Jrue Holiday had 22 off the bench and Damian Lillard 21. Robert Williams III had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Toumani Camara made 4 of 5 three-pointers for 12 points.

Score by quarter (NBA.com): Trail Blazers 32-36-34-34, Lakers 38-35-30-26.

The finish

The Lakers led 38-32 after the first quarter, 73-68 at half-time and 103-102 after three quarters. NBA.com recorded 11 lead changes and 10 ties.

According to the ESPN play-by-play, the score was 116-116 with 5:33 left after two Reaves jump shots, and a Ziaire Williams three-pointer put the Lakers 120-118 ahead with 4:43 to go. Holiday answered with a three-pointer, and Lillard hit another from 24 feet, followed by a technical free throw, for 125-121. Doncic made a 28-foot three to cut it to one, before Avdija and Ziaire Williams traded threes for 128-127.

Morant then made two jump shots in 37 seconds for 132-127. After Doncic’s pull-up with 1:06 left made it 132-129, Lillard hit a step-back three-pointer, assisted by Avdija, with 43.1 seconds remaining for 135-129, and Holiday’s free throw completed the scoring.

Portland shot 59% from the field (46 of 78), made 18 of 36 three-pointers and had 30 assists, according to ESPN team statistics; they scored 56 points in the paint to the Lakers’ 48, NBA.com said. Portland made 26 of 41 free throws. The Lakers shot 56% and made 17 of 43 threes. Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 17 off the bench and Walker Kessler 13 for Los Angeles.

The play-by-play shows four technical fouls on Portland and three on the Lakers, including flopping technicals on Camara, Morant and Ziaire Williams in the final five minutes, and a flagrant foul 1 on Holiday late in the second quarter. ESPN lists attendance of 19,067.

The Lakers host the LA Clippers on Wednesday (2:30am GMT Thursday 29 October) and the Trail Blazers host the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday (2am GMT Friday 30 October), according to the ESPN schedule.

See also: Luka Doncic scores NBA season-high 52 as Lakers beat Jazz 132-123.

Other NBA results

All other results from Tuesday 27 October (US time), according to ESPN box scores and AP reports. No game was postponed.

• New York Knicks 111, Detroit Pistons 97: Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 20 rebounds as the defending champions won for the first time this season and ended Detroit’s unbeaten start. Full report.
• Boston Celtics 125, Brooklyn Nets 124 (OT): Jayson Tatum made a 17-foot jumper at the overtime buzzer to finish with 40 points, going 10 of 20 from the field and 18 of 22 from the free-throw line, as Boston won a third straight game to go 3-1, AP said. Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr., the sixth pick in the draft, made a tying three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left in regulation, then missed a layup with 2.3 seconds left in overtime before Tatum’s winner; he finished with 17. Michael Porter Jr. had 27 points and 12 rebounds and Julius Randle 24 for Brooklyn (0-4). Paul George scored 20 and Derrick White 16 for the Celtics. AP said Boston’s Mitchell Robinson missed two free throws with three seconds left in regulation, giving the Nets the chance to tie. Highlights (NBA on YouTube).
• San Antonio Spurs 130, Sacramento Kings 103: Victor Wembanyama had 29 points and 10 rebounds on 14-of-21 shooting and matched his career high with nine dunks, AP said, as San Antonio won at home for the first time this season to go 2-2. Julian Champagnie scored 26, making 8 of 13 three-pointers, and Dylan Harper had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists; all five Spurs starters scored in double figures and the team made 17 of 37 threes, with season highs of 39 points in the first quarter and 80 by half-time. De’Andre Hunter scored 24, Zach LaVine 22 and Domantas Sabonis had 20 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for Sacramento (0-4). Highlights (NBA on YouTube).