The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back from an overtime loss on Tuesday as they scored a hard-earned 94-86 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Canada.
Julius Randle, the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, led the Lakers with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field, while also grabbing eight rebounds.
Jeremy Lin also had an outstanding performance in his return from an ankle injury as he tallied 13 points to go along with five assists and three rebounds, while Wesley Johnson and Wayne Ellington added 11 points apiece for the Lakers, who improved to 3-4 this offseason.
Playing without superstar guard Kobe Bryant, the Lakers had a strong start and built a 26-18 lead after the first 12 minutes of the match, which increased to 13 points at the half. The Jazz tried to mount a comeback in the second half, but the Lakers managed to hold on to the win.
CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers in a losing effort as he erupted for 17 points, Meyers Leonard added 13 points and four rebounds, while Allen Crabbe racked up 11 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers gave new team owner Steve Ballmer a big reason to smile in his first home game at the Staples Center.
Led by superstar duo Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Clippers cruised to a 108-105 victory against the Phoenix Suns in their close showdown on Wednesday night.
Griffin finished with 35 points to go along with seven rebounds and two steals, while Paul racked up 34 points to go along with nine assists, five rebounds and four steals.
But despite winning on Wednesday night, Griffin said that they are still far from what they want to achieve in the upcoming season in terms of cohesion.
"I'm really seeing what they do and what their tendencies are and what they're going to really help us at," Griffin said of his teammates via ESPN. "That's promising, but I think your identity as a team, it's tough to create that identity and learn a lot about your team within three weeks, four weeks, whatever it's been."
Highlights of the Lakers-Trail Blazers match are available here, while highlights of the Clippers-Suns match can be seen on this link.
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