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Blazers vs. Lakers Final Score: 98-94; Portland Storms Over Los Angeles

Damian Lillard had 39 points, and Portland overcame a poor night shooting and rebounding to beat the Lakers.

Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

A poor night shooting and rebounding put Portland in danger, but another fantastic fourth quarter from Damian Lillard saved the day.

Damian Lillard had 39 points, LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points and 8 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the Los Angeles Lakers at Moda Center, 98-94, Monday night.

Lillard kicked off the first quarter with nine points to lead Portland, but Jordan Hill answered with eight on 4-of-4 shooting.  Scary moment for the Blazers when Wesley Matthews went down with an apparent left leg injury early in the period, but he returned after a four minute stint in the locker room.  Portland has difficulty on the defensive glass without Lopez or Freeland, but managed to hold a one point lead after one.

The scoring from long range in the second quarter did not come from Batum or Matthews, but from Meyers Leonard, who scored eight in the period, including two threes.  Leonard had an overall strong quarter with four rebounds as well.  During the quarter, Aldridge grabbed his 3,390th career defensive rebound, placing him first in Trail Blazers history in that category.  Yet the shots continued to not fall for Portland, and they took a slim two point lead into halftime, 47-45.

Los Angeles took the lead in the third quarter, getting out to as far as ten.  Aldridge had six in the quarter, but Lillard and Matthews combined to shoot 2-of-8.  A late rally by Portland cut the lead to three after three quarters.

The Blazers opened the final period shooting 1-of-9 as Los Angles held an eight point lead.  Finally with under five minutes to play, everything clicked.  Lillard hit back-to-back threes, Aldridge converted an alley-oop to give Portland the lead.  They expanded the lead to four, but free throws by Nick Young and Jeremy Lin gave the Lakers the lead back.  Lillard converted a layup to re-take the lead, then hit two free throws after a Young miss.  He had 15 in the period.  Lin missed a three from the top of the key, and Aldridge sealed the game with a pair of free throws.

Leonard had 12 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double since March 30, 2013 versus Golden State.  Chris Kaman had 8 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks starting for first time as a Trail Blazer.

BOX SCORE

Gameday Thread Comments of the Night

Thanks to all who participated in tonight's Gameday Thread! Here were the most popular comments, based on number of rec's.

# Recs Commenter Comment Link
10 Norsktroll johncanzanobft: Chuck Norris has a Wesley Matthews tattoo.
5 pklym I feel like many need reminding that Meyers was pretty useful when he started a few weeks ago too
5 Mortimer One handed rebounds by MILES LEOPARD
4 Reasonable Approximation Iggy Azalea gives me an inner-ear problem too. So I understand.
4 KingLamarcus So happy that Wes is back that tonight is automatically a win for me.
3 eloi His knee tried to quit on him, but Wes doesn't tolerate quitters.
3 KingWes LOL
3 WillBartonMVP Skraeurhpl!
3 Norsktroll Paul Allen's time machine project paying dividends. Wes was actually out for a year just now.
3 ParticleAccelerator I think Dame's clutchness has shielded us from the true clutchster: Meyers Leonard.
3 ParticleAccelerator The camera adds a couple of turnovers.

Post-Game Reaction

VIDEO: Chris Kaman finishes the pick-and-roll with Damian Lillard with an authoritative one-handed dunk.

VIDEO: Wesley Matthews goes down with what appears to be a knee injury.