James’ 44 and historic night leads Lakers past Blazers

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 14, 2018

It was vintage LeBron James at Staples Center as the Los Angeles Lakers swept to a 126-117 victory over the Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

James scored 44 points to go with 10 rebounds, nine assists and three blocked shots as the Lakers (8-6) won their fourth straight game and beat Portland for the second time in three meetings this season.

JaVale McGee added 20 points for the Lakers, who shot .484 (15 for 32) from 3-point range.

Damian Lillard had 31 points and 11 assists but made only 8 of 23 shots from the field for the Blazers (10-4), who saw the end to a four-game win streak.

CJ McCollum scored 23 points, and Jusuf Nurkic collected 21 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Blazers, who led by 13 points in the second quarter.

The Blazers opened a 25-14 lead over the first eight minutes. They took a 33-26 advantage into the second quarter.

Portland increased the margin to 45-32 midway through the second quarter.

The Lakers outscored the Blazers 27-10 the rest of the half — the last six points on back-to-back 3-pointers by James — to take a 59-55 lead into the break.

The Lakers increased the difference to 97-87 late in the quarter.

The Lakers’ edge was 97-89 heading into the final period.

Consecutive 3’s by Rajon Rondo and Josh Hart pushed the Lakers’ lead to 105-89 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Portland got to within 121-111 with 2:30 remaining and had chances to get closer. But both Lillard and McCollum missed layups, and the Blazers got it down to nine only on an uncontested dunk by Meyers Leonard in the closing seconds.

James reached 31,420 points in the fourth quarter to pass Wilt Chamberlain and move into fifth on the NBA’s career scoring list.

The second stop on Portland’s six-game road trip is 5 p.m. PT Friday at Minnesota.