Lillard leads Blazers to playoff upset of LeBron’s Lakers

Aug. 19 (UPI) — Damian Lillard scored a game-high 34 points and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame a LeBron James triple-double performance to earn a win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series.

Portland led by 16 points in the first half but had to hold off the Lakers late in the 100-93 triumph Tuesday in Orlando, Fla. James had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 16 assists in the loss. Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 28 points and had 11 rebounds.

“They made enough plays to win the game down the stretch and we didn’t,” James told reporters.

The Blazers are on a five-game winning streak and have lost twice in 10 games in the league’s protective bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World Resort.

“I thought it was a great effort from our team,” Lillard said. “From the start of the game we came out with the level of focus and energy we needed to [have] against the best team in the league.”

Lillard was hot early with 15 points in the first quarter to lead the Blazers to an early 36-25 edge as the game entered the second quarter.

Davis poured in 12 points in the second quarter to help the Lakers close the gap to 57-56 at halftime. The Blazers outscored the Lakers 21-19 in the third quarter before the Lakers rallied to tie the score at 78-78 with 10:34 remaining.

James then put his squad ahead 80-78 with 8:46 remaining and the Lakers pushed the lead to six points before the Blazers responded with an 8-2 run to regain the advantage.

Lillard, Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr. hit back-to-back 3-pointers down the stretch to secure the late lead for Portland.

Anthony had 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the win. C.J. McCollum chipped in 21 points for the Blazers. Jusuf Nurkic had 16 points and 15 rebounds in the win. Kyle Kuzma scored 14 points and had eight rebounds off the Lakers bench.

“It’s just one game,” Lillard said. “The job is far away from being done, but I’m proud of our effort and getting the first” win.

Game 2 of the first-round playoff series will be at 9 p.m. EDT Thursday in Orlando.

“We came here with the mindset to win and we didn’t take care of business,” James said. “We have another opportunity on Thursday to even the series. That’s my only mindset.”

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