Oregon's Portland -- — In an In-Season Tournament game on Friday night, LeBron James equaled his season-high with 35 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 107-95 to record their sixth straight loss.
With the victory that counts toward the regular season, Anthony Davis added 16 points and 14 rebounds, and the Lakers improved to 3-0 in Group A.
Regarding the competition, James remarked, "This early in the season, it's definitely an incentive." "We're not putting all of our eggs in one basket for the In-Season Tournament; we know what's at stake."
Portland's Jerami Grant scored 24 points. The Blazers' defeat sent them to 1-2 overall and ended their hopes of winning their group in the competition.
In the last quarter, the Lakers had a 17-point lead. With slightly more than seven minutes remaining, Rui Hachimura's 3-pointer gave Los Angeles a 97-83 lead, sending supporters packing.
James began and played with a calf sleeve on despite being rated as questionable due to a calf contusion. He ended up with nine assists, seven of which came in the fourth quarter. Plus, he drained five 3-pointers.
He had excellent form tonight and hit the ball really effectively, particularly from three. Made some major plays for us, big-time shots that just slowed them down," Davis stated in reference to James.
Because point difference matters in the group standings, Los Angeles (7-6) rested its starters until the very end. The Lakers are the only club from the Western Conference that is unbeaten in the competition.