Lakers have no answer for Damian Lillard, Trail Blazer’s hot start in loss

LeBron James worked out hard after the Lakers had completed their shoot-around Monday morning, working in the post, running to the three-point line, throwing down dunks, pull-up jumpers, his sweat all over the Moda Center court.

But James didn’t play in the game later that night against the Portland Trail Blazers, missing his third straight game with left ankle soreness. With Wednesday night’s game against the Pelicans at Crypto.com Arena being the Lakers’ last game before the All-Star break, Lakers coach Darvin Ham was asked if James would play then.

“Yeah,” Ham said, “in all likelihood he should be available then.”

The Lakers, with six new players that they have traded for in the last 3 ½ weeks, could have used James against a Trail Blazers that put them in a 27-point hole behind sizzling All-Star point guard Damian Lillard.

The Lakers had no answers for Lillard, who had 40 points, six rebounds and five assists in pushing LA to a 127-115 defeat to Portland.

Anthony Davis had 19 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, but it was nothing compared to Lillard going 13-for-23 from the field and eight-for-14 from three-point range.

Dennis Schroder had an off-night, going one-for-seven from the field for just two points. D’Angelo Russell had 16 points and four assists and Malik Beasley had 22 points off the bench.

But that wasn’t nearly enough to stop the Lakers from losing for the fourth time in their last five games.

The last time the Lakers were here they rallied from a 25-point deficit to win that game.

Not this time.

Not with the Lakers unable to stop the Blazers from drilling three-pointer after three-pointer after three-pointer.

The Trail Blazers shot 48.9% from the three-point line, a big reason why the Lakers lost.

The game was significant for the Lakers because the Trail Blazers are ahead of them in the Western Conference standings, making 13^th-place LA having to climb over Portland, Oklahoma City and Utah before it can secure a spot in the play-in game as a top 10 team.

“Anytime you get to step on the floor and have an opportunity to get a win, I think you have to take every game seriously and value the opportunity, especially with this new collection of players, the way we are currently,” Ham said.

The Lakers have 24 regular-season games left to get it right, or they will be staring at another long offseason without making the playoffs.

The last of the Lakers to speak with the media was Mo Bamba, the 7-0 center who was acquired from the Magic for Patrick Beverley, doing so Monday after the team’s shoot-around earlier in the day.

Bamba didn’t play because he’s serving the last of his four-game suspension for an on-court altercation with Minnesota guard Austin Rivers. But when Bamba is available to play on Wednesday night, he thinks the transition will be smooth.

He called James and Davis the “Three 6 Mafia, a nickname “I gave them,” and because the two of them are so good, Bamba thinks “continuity is really easy” to come by.

He also has had past relationships with D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Troy Brown Jr. and Lonnie Walker IV, and that also will speed up their continuity.

“So, there’s continuity there as far as familiarity,” Bamba said. “Obviously it’s different when you get on the court, but I don’t think it will be too much of a challenge.”

Bamba appeared in 40 games for the Magic this season, averaging 7.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 17 minutes per game.

He also had shown the ability to knock down three-pointers, making 39.8% of his threes this season and 36% over his career.

“Again, just his ability to protect the rim and his ability to stretch the floor,” Ham said. “He’s another young, very young, high-level player with a huge upside. Our coaches are excited to get to work with him and we’re excited to add him into the mix. I think it’s going to be great.”