The Portland Trail Blazers could not keep up with a shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers team in a 123-115 loss on Monday night. Portland started the game with a nine-point lead after the first quarter but faltered the rest of the game and were unable to survive a late onslaught that pushed the game out of reach.

The Blazers were led in scoring by Deni Avdija’s 33 point performance and by Shaedon Sharpe’s 23 points.

The Lakers were without LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves in the contest. However, they saw some major contributions from Deandre Ayton, Rui Hachimura and Nick Smith. That trio finished the game with 29 points, 28 points and 25 points respectively.

Here are some key takeaways from the game.

Efficiency Battle

The Blazers were unable to find the bottom of the basket fro

See Full Page