On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers went into Portland and picked up a relatively comfortable road win over the upstart Trail Blazers despite playing without both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves , in addition to LeBron James. The Lakers were able to pull out this victory thanks to 29 points from Rui Hachimura and 28 from former Blazers center Deandre Ayton, as well as an unexpected 25-point outburst from guard Nick Smith, Jr.

The Lakers also got a strong contribution from Bronny James , son of LeBron James and a 2024 second round draft pick, who scored five points to go along with six assists in the win.

James has already logged minutes in five of the Lakers' first eight games so far this year, including rotational minutes in their last two against the Miami Heat and now the

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