The Portland Trail Blazers faced the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night in a game in which LA missed large portions of their starting lineup. LeBron James didn’t play, nor did scorer Austin Reeves. Without two of their top three scorers, the Lakers looked a lot like Anthony Davis surrounded by a G League lineup that ultimately included THE Bronny James.

Under these conditions, almost any credible NBA team should have been able to give LA a chance. Portland largely did. A big run by the Lakers in the second quarter put them comfortably ahead. The Blazers closed the gap again, but LA had enough to take a 107-98 victory.

Here are some of the factors that characterized the action.

AD vs DA

Without LeBron James, the Lakers went to Anthony Davis to keep their score. Deandre Ayton did a credible job with him as the two centers competed one-on-one in isolation. But the Lakers started setting up screens to take some of the pressure off Davis. Whenever Ayton got even a little out of position, he was grilled by Davis. The same was true when the Blazers rotated and/or guarded Davis with a smaller player while Ayton sat.

Something similar happened at the other end, just on a smaller scale. Ayton couldn’t defeat Davis alone. When the Blazers made moves to free up Deandre, he got to the rim (or got open for short bursts) and capitalized.

However, Los Angeles went to Davis far more than Portland went to Ayton. As a result, their respective stats weren’t even remotely comparable, even though both played believably. Davis finished the game with 30 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks and 2 steals in 32 minutes. Ayton had 14 points and 19 rebounds in 35 minutes before being fouled out of the game.

Pace of the second session

Portland’s backup team has to make head coach Chauncey Billups’ heart beat faster, at least in some way. The returning Scoot Henderson and the ever-present Deni Avdija pushed the pace at every opportunity. You could see the pace quickening as soon as the couple spoke up. This did not lead to an immediate increase in scoring chances, also because both are unsure on offense. It lured the Lakers into an up-and-down game that kept the playing field more than even for a while as it largely took the lumbering Davis out of the game.

This defense

That doesn’t mean that everything worked out with the replacement team. With the score close in the second period, Henderson was burned on back-to-back fast break layups. Then he and his teammates failed to maintain the three-point arc. Los Angeles scored 10 points in just over a minute, starting the surge that would put them on top. It’s a typical story this year. Portland can put one or two things together, but three fall apart at the same time.

Top scorers

The Lakers weren’t the only team whose best players didn’t show up for the game. Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons technically saw the floor, playing 32 and 31 minutes, respectively. Combined, they shot just 6-25 from the field and 2-13 from the three-point arc. Simons scored 14 and Grant scored 3 offseason averages of 15.9 and 16.6, respectively. The lack of a goal significantly reduced Portland’s chances of victory.

Shaedon Sharpe balanced that with 19 points on 7-15 shooting in 34 minutes, but that only goes so far. He was strong in the first half, but even he couldn’t save the Blazers in the second.

Supports

With James, their leading assistant, out of the lineup, it stood to reason that the Lakers might have trouble passing the ball with their mixed-up lineup tonight. Unfortunately, the Blazers couldn’t make them pay. Portland’s defense simply wasn’t good enough in the half court. Los Angeles ended up with 25 assists on 38 shots made. Portland couldn’t even come close with 17 assists on 35 goals.

To illustrate, Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell spent 14 dimes, almost as much as the Trail Blazers total.

Overfly

With hardly anyone else taking over the offense, Henderson took on that role in the second half. His most memorable moment came at the end of the third period, when he intercepted a cross-court pass from the Lakers with 2.7 seconds left, then dribbled down the court and fired a bank shot well outside the court at the buzzer. He also drove very actively and at least tried to overtake. It was a bit of a star turn for the beleaguered second-year point guard. Now if only the defense would catch up…

Henderson finished the game with 13 points on 3-6 shooting but had no assists.

Sales

It’s appropriate that this part of the analysis comes last because ultimately, this is what killed Portland’s chances of getting back into the game and having a chance at victory. The Blazers were within three minutes early in the fourth period, but they turned the ball over in the final frame like they were allergic to it. Not only did this rob Portland of potential points, it also led to a series of easy three-pointers for Los Angeles. The Blazers finished the game with a total of 18 turnovers, which led to 26 Lakers points, almost a quarter of their total point output.

Next

Box score

The Blazers next play Friday night, facing the San Antonio Spurs in Pacific at 7 p.m.