Don't look now, but the NBA is having a picture-perfect restart to its 2019-20 season, not only going caseless for a month when it comes to the novel coronavirus, but bringing the right type of excitement and hoopla with these games in the bubble. The Portland Trail Blazers were one of two No. 8 seeds to take down a top seed in the respective opening games of their series, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 100-93 in the last game of a quadruple-header on Tuesday.
Here are three big takeaways from the Game 1 upset.
The Blazers are no ordinary No. 8 seed
Part of why the Blazers got off to a successful 36-25 first-quarter lead and were able to hang with the Lakers throughout the game is because the eighth seed is a mere illusion this year. Not only are the Lakers not enjoying the benefit of home-court advantage, but they're playing a team that has souped up its roster with the addition of Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins — two noteworthy contributors.
Collins was a scratch with a left ankle injury, but Nurkic provided 16 points and 15 rebounds over 33 minutes. Couple that with 55 combined points from Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, and the Blazers have some serious firepower to contend with any team out West.
Beautiful basketball, indeed:
Couple that with a motivated Damian Lillard playing the best basketball of his life, and the Lakers have a true test ahead of them.
The Lakers might have the shinier star power, but they lack the depth and all-around chemistry this Blazers team has mustered fighting for a chance to make it into the playoffs.
That type of hunger simply can't be faked or mustered through the means of meaningless games in the bubble, and it can't be replicated by a team that locked up the No. 1 seed halfway through the restart.
The Blazers are a middle-of-the-pack seed disguised as an eighth-seed … and it hasn't taken the Lakers long to find that out.
Portland's timely shotmaking
Portland fell behind in the fourth quarter despite entering the period with a 78-75 lead. The Blazers trailed by as many as six points with 7:21 left in regulation, but was able to close the gap thanks to some timely shotmaking.
The Blazers were trailing 87-81 but ripped off a quick 8-0 run thanks to some clutch shots by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. With the game tied at 89, Portland pulled away with consecutive 3-pointers from Lillard, Carmelo Anthony, and Gary Trent Jr., all while the Lakers could only muster 2-pointers.
This Logo Lillard trey was the exclamation point on the night, as the Oakland native only needed a few inches of separation from big man Hassan Whiteside's screen to bury a 36-footer over Defensive Player of the Year hopeful Anthony Davis:
The Blazers shot an efficient 6-of-10 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter while the Lakers struggled, making only 1-of-9 from deep. Portland has made a habit of hitting big 3-pointers in the clutch throughout this restart, and that continued on Tuesday.
Portland is actually in rarified air at this moment in time. The top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks lost to a shorthanded Orlando Magic team in the first game of the day. The Blazers closed out Game 1 over the Lakers in the nightcap, making NBA history as the second time when two top seeds were taken down in their respective opening games since 2002-03, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs lost back then, the only other time such thing has happened since seeding began in 1983-84.
History, however, is not in the Blazers' favor. The Pistons and Spurs went on to win their first-round series, and the Spurs eventually went on to win the NBA Finals in 2003.
The Lakers can't buy a bucket without LeBron James
Simply put, LeBron James showed up to play but the rest of his teammates didn't. The King totaled 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 16 assists in a throttling triple-double performance, but his Lakers were simply hopeless when he wasn't involved.
Sure, Anthony Davis had a respectable 28 points and 11 rebounds, but most of his shots were well-earned from the charity stripe, where he shot 12-of-17. One could argue Davis' poor shot selection killed the Lakers' chances, as his 8-of-24 from the floor is mind-numbing for a player of his size and skill.
Los Angeles is still living in the fantasy of spotting him up as a stretch 4/5, but his 3-point shooting has never been all that great.
The Brow has never shot more than 34% from deep in his career, and he was a ghastly 0-for-5 on Tuesday night on mostly wide-open looks. He's shooting 7-of-34 (20.6%) from 3 since entering the bubble
Besides the top guns, the Lakers were simply flat when role players had to step up. James was the willing facilitator he usually is early in series, but his patience could soon run out if they keep shooting the way they have:
According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Lakers shot 16-of-31 (51.6%) off James' passes and a measly 18-of-66 (27.3%) on all other shot attempts in Game 1 — an interesting stat that tells just about everything that went wrong for Los Angeles.
But this is hardly the first time that's happened. The Lakers went 3-5 through their restart, and a large part of it was their dependence on LeBron James. A closer look will indicate that they have done so for the most part this season. If that trend continues, this series could get too close for comfort for The King and company.