Jerami Grant made a driving layup with three seconds left and the visiting Portland Trail Blazers held on for a 106-104 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 23.
LeBron James missed a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer for the Lakers, who are 0–3 for the second time since James arrived in Los Angeles before the 2018–19 season.
Damian Lillard scored 41 points and Grant had 16 for Portland, which is 3–0 for the first time since 2011.
James had 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Anthony Davis had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Lonnie Walker IV scored 15 points for the Lakers.
The Lakers took a 102–95 lead on a layup by James with 1:56 remaining.
Lillard made a 3–pointer with 12.4 seconds left to give Portland a 104–102 lead
James drove into a wide-open lane and made a layup to tie it 104 with 7.7 seconds left, setting up Portland’s winning play.
The Lakers missed 15 of 16 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half. The Lakers made 5 of 13 from deep in the third quarter, helping them outscore the Trail Blazers 35–23 and take an 83–78 lead entering the fourth.
Patrick Beverley made a 3-pointer in transition, just the second 3 in the first 19 attempts for the Lakers, to tie score 59-59 with 8:37 left in the third quarter.
Lillard sank a 3 and then converted a three-point play on consecutive possessions to move Portland back ahead 72–66 with 5:13 left in the third.
Austin Reaves hit a 3 in transition to give Los Angeles a 77–74 lead, and James sank 3s on back-to-back possessions to stretch the advantage to 83–76 with 30.4 seconds left in the quarter.
A 15–0 run by the Trail Blazers allowed them to take their first lead and expand it to 24-16 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
The Trail Blazers protected the lead throughout the second quarter, even as the Lakers got as close as three on a basket by James with 3:21 left. Portland eventually stretched the lead back to 55-48 at the break.
