Damian Lillard, Blazers Beat Lakers to Stay Unbeaten

Damian Lillard buried his fourth 3-pointer with 43 seconds left, and the Portland Trail Blazers held off Luka Doncic's 41 points to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 136-129 on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, according to the AP. Ja Morant and Deni Avdija scored 23 apiece, Lillard added 21, and Portland is still perfect.

That win puts the Blazers at 3-0, only the franchise's second 3-0 start in the last 15 years, and they are a perfect 3-0 under new coach Micah Nori. The Lakers (3-1) took their first loss of the season, and they get no time to stew about it with the Clippers waiting Wednesday.

How Damian Lillard and Ja Morant closed it

Portland led by eight early in the fourth quarter before Doncic came back from the bench and dragged the Lakers into it. Lillard and Avdija hit back-to-back 3s in the final minutes, and Doncic and Ziaire Williams answered both of them. Then Morant took over the half court, hitting midrange jumpers on consecutive possessions to push the lead to five, and Lillard put it away from deep.

The 36-year-old finished 5 of 12 from the field and 4 of 8 from 3, and he did it on a night he uncharacteristically missed four free throws (7 of 11). Morant was efficient all night at 9 of 13. If you are a Blazers fan, a Lillard dagger in a Lakers building is about as good as October gets.

Luka Doncic did everything but win

Doncic shot 12 of 22, made six 3-pointers, went 11 of 13 at the line and had nine assists. It came right after his 52-point game at Utah over the weekend, his 10th 50-point game in less than two years with the Lakers. He also looked engaged on defense, but Portland's balance and the late shotmaking were too much.

Austin Reaves scored 26 on 8-of-13 shooting, and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 17 off the bench, including a buzzer-beating 3 to cap a 13-point first half. Lakers fans have to like what they are seeing from Doncic. They will like it less that 41 still was not enough.

Portland's depth is the real story

Six Blazers scored in double figures. Jrue Holiday had 22 on 8-of-12 shooting and was a team-best plus-10, Robert Williams III had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Toumani Camara hit 4 of 5 from deep for 12. Portland missed just 10 shots in the entire first half, which is how a team survives a 16-point first quarter from Doncic. Blazers fans watching this group should keep an eye on how Nori splits the late-game touches between Lillard, Morant and Holiday.

Portland hosts Memphis on Thursday. Lillard took eight 3s against the Lakers and still has the green light in crunch time. Smacktok pick: lean higher on Damian Lillard's made 3-pointers against the Grizzlies.