NBA: Lillard martyrs Lakers already in difficulty

Damian Lillard, in great shape at the start of the championship, after a long absence, scored 41 points on Sunday in Portland’s victory (106-104) at the Lakers already struggling in the NBA, after three defeats in as many matches .

If the back, finally rid of his abdominal tear which required an operation and a distance from the parquet floors during the first half, comes back strong, LA cannot recover from the poor season last, finished in 11th place in the West, far from the play-offs.

Led by eight points in money-time, the Blazers were able to count on their found leader, “Dame Time”, who, true to his reputation as a “clutch” player (which seals the fate of a meeting in the last moments) , put a banderilla behind the arc (6/13 in total), to regain the advantage (104-102) 12.4 seconds from time.

But that was not enough, because LeBron James, 37 years old but still the most valiant of the Lakers (31 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds), equalized with a furious dunk, before Jerami Grant scored the double- no victory 3 seconds from the buzzer. Because LBJ finally missed the potentially equalizing shot.

– Booker mate les Clippers –

“One of our greatest strengths in the first three games (all won, editor’s note) was hanging on and trusting each other, even after bad times,” said Lillard, author of 12 points in the last quarter.

The Lakers broke up at the end. Anthony Davis was however far from deserving (22 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks), unlike Russell Westbrook (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists), author of two missed shots in the last seconds.

James didn’t want to overwhelm him: “I’m not here for that. Russ had two good shots and couldn’t put them in. Defensively, we couldn’t stop them either. And to the end, +Queen+ was +Queen+”.

Still in Los Angeles, the time to change floors in the Crypto.com Arena, Nicolas Batum’s Clippers (3 pts, 3 rebounds) also lost in front of their fans, against Phoenix (112-95). The Suns were able to rely on Devin Booker (35 pts).

In San Francisco, the Warriors, defending champions, returned to victory, two days after their defeat against Denver, at the expense of Sacramento (130-125), thanks in particular to Stephen Curry, author of 28 of his 33 points in the only first period, during which his team scored 89 points, including 50 in the 2nd quarter, a franchise record broken.

– Hot/cold Warriors –

Whereupon Golden State, which counted up to 26 units ahead, relaxed, leaving the Kings to come back to four lengths at the start of the last minute. But an interception by Andrew Wiggins (24 pts), then left to dunk, avoided a huge disappointment for the “Dubs”.

Minnesota, carried by 30 points and 11 rebounds from Anthony Edwards, won for its part in Oklahoma City (116-106). His flagship rookie Rudy Gobert contributed greatly (15 pts, 15 rebounds, 1 against) and the other Frenchman Ousmane Dieng (5 pts, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) struggled for the Thunder.

The other former Jazz star, Donovan Mitchell, was instrumental in Cleveland’s success against Washington (117-107), planting 7 of his 37 points in overtime, for his first game in Ohio. The back was thus caught up after some bad choices at the end of the fourth quarter which had revived the Wizards.

Finally, Utah, which surprises with a completely revamped team, now led by the Finn Lauri Markkanen (31 pts, 12 rebounds) has scored a third success in a row (122-121 ap) in New Orleans, despite Zion Williamson (25 pts) and CJ McCollum (28 pts).

nip/jnd