National Basketball Association

3 Takeaways From POR-LAL – G2

Updated Aug. 21, 2020 1:34 p.m. ET

After a Game 1 letdown against the red-hot 8th-seeded Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers responded with a dominant 23-point win in Game 2 to tie the series, 1-1.

Here are 3 Takeaways from Game 2 of this Western Conference first round matchup.

1. Anthony Davis bounces back

After an inefficient 8-for-24 shooting night in Game 1, Anthony Davis, the Lakers' leading scorer, bounced back with a dominant 31-point performance in Game 2.

Davis shot 13-for-21 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range. He was a +32 for the night, the highest of any Lakers player.

Davis was the game's leading scorer, and was so dominant that an off shooting night for LeBron James (10 points on 4-for-11 shooting) rarely had an impact on the game.

2. The Lakers' offense comes to life

After struggling offensively in Game 1, scoring only 93 points and connecting on only 5 three-pointers, the Lakers finally got caught fire in overwhelming the Blazers.

The Lakers shot 14-for-38 from three-point range, and starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a big bounce back game, after scoring only 1 point in Game 1 and going 0-for-9 from the field.

Caldwell-Pope recorded 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 shooting from three.

3. The Blazers offense isn't clicking

After scoring at least 110 points in all nine of their bubble games prior to the playoffs, the Blazers' offense has cooled off in two games against the Lakers.

Portland put up 100 points in Game 1 while shooting 39.2% from the field, and its offense struggled even more in Game 2.

The Blazers failed to reach 100 for the first time in Orlando, scoring only 88 points on 40% shooting.

In particular, All-Star point guard Damian Lillard has been somewhat neutralized, and also suffered an injury on Thursday night.

After averaging 37.6 points during seeding play, that number is down to 26.0 points through two games against LA, a low number compared to his previous bubble output.