Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura carried the Lakers early and D’Angelo Russell got the start in the fourth as the Lakers picked up another home win despite LeBron James on Sunday, defeating the Blazers 107-98.

Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura had dominant games. AD finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Rui scored 23 points with five rebounds and three steals. D’Angelo Russell turned up the heat in the second half, scoring 28 points and 14 assists off the bench.

Quincy Olivari played his first rotation minutes of the season as the Lakers passed several players, including LeBron. Quincy finished with three points out of six minutes.

It was an early game between AD and the Blazers as he took over the scoring, making four of his first six shot attempts. Rui joined in the fun with a dunk of his own.

Midway through the quarter, AD became the first player to reach double figures. Still, Portland played pretty well and had built a lead of up to six.

The Lakers went on a three-minute point drought, giving Portland a four-point lead. Shootings in LA were down to 29%. Los Angeles had major defensive problems, with AD being the only one doing anything.

At the end of the first round, the purple and gold colors were down by six. Neither team was able to make a three-pointer early in the second period until Quincy Olivari knocked down a three-pointer for his first NBA points.

This was followed by a mid-range shot from Dalton. The Blazers still played a step better than LA and had a lead of eight.

Rui scored four points in a row to make it a four-point game. Cam Reddish found Dalton with a bounce pass on a fast break and got within two. Rui was red-hot, scoring with two consecutive 3-pointers.

The Lakers were in the lead and had all the momentum. After Portland made it a three-point game, the Lakers extended their lead to 14. At halftime the Lakers were ahead 59-45.

The second half began with the Lakers’ lead shrinking to just five points after a five-minute losing streak of 14 points. AD was the first to score for the Lakers on a layup.

LA’s lead began to grow on the shoulders of AD and D’Lo. D’Lo passed to Dalton for a fastbreak dunk, putting the Lakers ahead by 12.

Portland continued to play well enough to further reduce the deficit, but LA managed to fight back each time. Once again, the Blazers cut the deficit to single digits and slowly crept back into it every time LA missed a shot.

At the end of the third period, the Lakers were only up by three after a buzzer hit by Scoot Henderson.

A layup from Rui opened the final frame for Los Angeles. He then made a great fake that led to a layup. His dominant play was huge for the Lakers and maintained their lead.

D’Lo hit his third 3-pointer of the game, but his court vision was important. He had up to 11 assists. The Lakers extended their lead to 10.

However, the quarter belonged to D’Lo as he hit another 3-pointer. He made up to five three-pointers that night and added another assist to his arsenal. Rui joined the group again with a 3-pointer and the Lakers finished in 17th place.

With 2:30 minutes left, the Lakers emptied their bench and had a win in hand.

Key Takeaways:

After a number of games where he seemed to struggle with his shot, Rui has taken his performance up a few notches and is back to the high level he was at at the start of the season. Rui’s great play is crucial for the Lakers.

Whenever D’Lo really puts his foot down and has an impressive game, this team is hard to beat.

Luckily for the Lakers, they have a few days off before their next game to rest up for a Wolves team they recently lost to.

The Lakers’ next game is against the Minnesota Trail Blazers on Friday at 5:00 p.m. PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.