Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Lakers

·Tue Oct 27·8:00 PM PT·NBC,Peacock·Los Angeles, CA

By JR·2 min read

Trail Blazers(2-0)

Lakers(2-0)

Tuesday 10/278:00 PM

TLDR: Both teams spent the summer tearing up the old plan, and both came out of opening night looking like they meant it. Portland brings Damian Lillard and Ja Morant to Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, October 27, for the first real look at what the post-LeBron Lakers have to deal with in their own conference.

WED 10/28, WED OCT 28, 8:00 PM NBC

Trail Blazers

(2-0)

Lakers

(2-0)

The Lakers, now built around Luka Dončić after LeBron's departure, host a rebuilt Portland team led by the returning Damian Lillard and newly acquired Ja Morant. Both clubs won their openers comfortably, but Los Angeles plays at Utah first while shorthanded, without Collin Sexton, Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero, so its starters' legs and Walker Kessler's rim protection against Portland's attacking guards are likely to decide it.

Portland Trail Blazers

Lillard scored 25 in his return to Portland
Morant gives them a 2nd guard who attacks the rim
Rested: no game between Sacramento and this one
New backcourt pairing still learning each other
Opening rout came at home against Phoenix
Has to finish inside against Kessler

Los Angeles Lakers

Dončić opened with 28 in a 22-point win
Kessler debuted with 22 points and 6 blocks
Held Golden State to 35 points over 2 quarters
Sexton, Carr and Thiero all out for the opener
Short rotation is putting heavy minutes on the starters
Plays at Utah before this one

Start with the Lakers, because it's officially Luka Dončić's team now. LeBron is in Philadelphia, Dončić took out a full-page ad in the LA Times promising a special team, and then he went out and backed it up with 28 points in a 127-105 opening win over Golden State. The headline from that game wasn't Luka, though. It was Walker Kessler, who put up 22 points and 6 blocks in his Lakers debut and anchored a defense that held the Warriors to 35 points across the 2nd and 3rd quarters combined.

Portland's opener was louder. Lillard, back in a Blazers uniform, scored 25 in his first regular-season game since returning, and Portland ran the Suns off the floor 124-83. They opened on a 21-0 run and led by as many as 52. Morant, who came over from Memphis in the Jerami Grant and Kris Murray trade, added 14 points and 8 assists. He looked like a guy still learning where his new teammates want the ball, and he still ran an offense that put up 124.

The schedule matters here. Portland gets nothing between its Sacramento trip and this game, so it shows up rested. The Lakers don't. They play at Utah first, and the result there will settle how many minutes the starters are already carrying into Tuesday. That's a real problem for this roster right now, because Los Angeles opened without Collin Sexton (right soleus strain), rookie Cameron Carr (right oblique strain) and Adou Thiero (left knee effusion), and JJ Redick had to ride a short rotation to beat Golden State.

That thin bench is the storyline to watch. Redick started Dončić, Austin Reaves, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and Kessler, and if Sexton is still out, nobody behind that group has shown they can soak up minutes. Portland's backcourt is the worst possible matchup for a tired team, because Lillard and Morant will both attack a defense that's been on the floor too long. Thybulle is the obvious pick to take one of them, and Kessler's rim protection is the backstop when they get downhill.

The flip side is that Portland is still a team with new pieces that has to win on the road against a real defense. Blowing out Phoenix at home on opening night is not the same thing as getting into the paint against a 7-footer who just blocked 6 shots. The Blazers also have off-court noise, with new owner Tom Dundon negotiating a Moda Center lease against a December 31 deadline and relocation talk hanging over it, though none of that has shown up on the floor yet.

Tipoff is 8:00 PM PT. It's Luka against a Lillard-Morant backcourt in the first week of a season where both franchises are new, and the Utah game decides whether the Lakers walk in fresh or worn down.

Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Lakers

Live Odds