LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Damian Lillard scored 34 points to lead the eight-seeded Portland Trail Blazers to a 100-93 win in Game 1 against the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.
CJ McCollum scored 21 points and Jusuf Nurkic finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
The Blazers jumped out to a hot start, building a 33-17 lead. But the Lakers responded the rest of the first half and Portland led by just one point at halftime, 57-56. The Blazers avoided the third quarter woes that have troubled them during their run into the postseason. Portland led 78-75 going into the fourth quarter.
It looked like the Lakers were going to pull away in the fourth quarter as they took an 87-81 lead. But Portland responded with 3-pointers from Lillard, McCollum, Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr. to finish the game on a 19-6 run and clinch the victory. Hassan Whiteside also had a couple of crucial blocks during the final minutes.
Trail Blazers vs. Lakers: Photos from game 1
The Lakers were led by Anthony Davis and LeBron James, who scored 28 and 23 points respectively. Los Angeles made just 5 of 32 3-point attempts.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Thursday night at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
3-on-3 Blazers podcast: Emergency pod! Blazers stun Lakers in Game 1
LISTEN: Apple podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher
