PORTLAND — The Trail Blazers were already without two of their key big men Monday, and two of their top three scorers had awful nights from the field.
But they had Damian Lillard. And that was just enough to squeak by a scrappy Los Angeles Lakers team without Kobe Bryant 98-94 behind 39 points from the All-Star.
It is the most points Lillard has scored in a home game in his Blazers career, surpassing his 38-point performance against the Lakers his rookie season. In hindsight, he wished that he had gotten 40 in that game in April 2013 and with an opportunity to score 40 points at the free-throw line, he was unaware he was so close to doing it this time.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal and then I was walking off the court and (his teammates) was like, ‘You missed a free-throw for 40,” he said. “You can’t leave it out there on the free-throw line. That’s like, ‘Come on, man.”
LaMarcus Aldridge had a rough game from the field, going just eight-of-20 from the field, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds. But he made big plays down the stretch. He also provided a little motivation.
“When it got to like the 4:30 mark, L.A. was just like: We got to get it going,” Lillard said. “We got to take over the rest of this game. He said, ‘I’m with you. Let’s do it.’ I said, ‘I’m with you.’ “
After the win the Blazers were in a jovial mood, a 180-degree turn from the feeling in the Moda Center in the first quarter when Wesley Matthews appeared to suffer a serious leg injury.
“I was real nervous,” Lillard said of his reaction when he saw Matthews initially go down. “When I saw him do it at first, I thought he just slipped. He hurt his knee falling on the ground and on the replay it looked like he hyperextended it.”
“I thought he was hurt,” Blazers head coach Terry Stotts said. “It didn’t look good on the replay. I was shocked to see him come back. I’m not a doctor, but it didn’t look good.”
Matthews did return eventually and played 30 minutes but was one-of-nine from the field. He said he felt the knee affected him mentally.
“I definitely felt weaker, less explosive and all that because I’m feeling every movement,” Matthews said with an extra two bags of ice on his knee. “I think (it was) more so mentally. I was worrying. I will get past it. I’m not going to blame my shooting and stuff on my knee. I’m not that type of person.”
While Matthews said that he will not undergo any testing on the knee following the game, he did say that he will see how it feels Tuesday and didn’t rule out further examination.
“I’m going in tomorrow,” Matthews said. “We’ll see how it feels.”
It was Meyers Leonard’s turn to get into the rotation Monday.
Leonard’s role is to shoot the ball when he is out there. He showed no hesitation in that regard, scoring eight points in just more than six minutes during his first shift. But shooting was not all he did.
His play of the night came in the fourth quarter when he got fouled on a corner 3-pointer by the Lakers’ Carlos Boozer. He completed the four-point play and with Kaman looking winded, Stotts went with Leonard down the stretch.
Leonard finished with 12 points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season, the second of his career. He was also part of the line-up that closed the game.
Chris Kaman got the start at center against the team he played for last season, and finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers’ Jordan Hill attacked the basket aggressively and had his mid-range jump shot cooking for much of the night. He scored 23 points and added 14 rebounds to lead the Lakers.
The Blazers pushed the lead to four after trailing in the fourth quarter but Nick Young was fouled on a 3-pointer with 1:06 left to bring the Lakers within a basket of winning the game. On the next Lakers possession Jeremy Lin, was fouled on a drive to give the Lakers a 92-91 lead with 43.3 seconds left.
A back cut by Lillard gave the Blazers a one-point lead with 36 seconds left off an assist from Aldridge.
They made a pair of stops and then iced the game at the free-throw line.
