by Frank Quartarone August 25th 2020
Immediately after LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers handed the Portland Trail Blazers a third straight loss, James made his views crystal clear in the post-game interview. James spoke briefly about the game itself, but then quickly segued to the Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
For those living under a rock, two Wisconsin police officers were placed on leave after Blake was shot multiple times in the back entering an SUV with his three kids –3,5, and 8– already in the vehicle. Blake, who is African-American, was unarmed fueling even more protests to add to the countless others that have taken place so far in 2020.
Just before Game 4 against Portland, James pleaded for justice with an emotional Twitter post: “And y’all wonder why we say what we say about the Police!! Someone please tell me WTF is this???!!! Exactly another black man being targeted. This sh*t is so wrong and so sad!! Feel so sorry for him, his family and OUR PEOPLE!! We want JUSTICE,” James said.
Whether this had any effect on LeBron’s focus for Game 4 is debatable, but James looked like a man on a mission all night. One thing became evident early, LeBron and the Lakers were looking to make a statement. The Lakers jumped out to a 15-0 lead and never looked back. James himself finished with 30 points on 10-12 shooting, yes you read that correctly, and 4-5 from three. James also dished out 10 dimes to round out the impressive stat line. Anthony Davis chipped in 18 points with five rebounds and five assists before leaving the game in the second half with back spasms.
Davis missing half the game did nothing to derail the Lakers. While LA’s dynamic duo set the tone early, Portland’s stars couldn’t get going until it was way too late. Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic paced Portland with 20 points and four assists, but he received little help. CJ McCollum added 18 points, but shot just 5-13 from the floor while only hitting a couple of threes. Carmelo Anthony shot 6-15 to finish with 16 points. Superman Damian Lillard was unable to bridge the gap offensively, shooting just 3-9 for 11 points. Lillard struggled mightily all night before leaving in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury.
The date for this game was significant for the Lakers and it showed. August 24th will always be Kobe Bryant Day in Los Angeles, the month and day being the same numbers worn by Kobe during his HOF career in Los Angeles. To honor the day, the Lakers came out in the “Black Mamba” City jerseys along with wearing Kobe V Protro 5X Champ Nike shoes. Adorned on the jerseys was a heart with a No.2 honoring Gianna Bryant, Kobe’s daughter also lost in the crash, with her jersey number. Most importantly for the Lakers, they looked like mambas out on the court, going in at halftime way up 80-51.
Undoubtedly, Laker fans were hoping for 81 at the half, mimicking Kobe’s point total in his final game but alas it wasn’t to be. LA made up for it extending the lead in the third quarter to 39, while the ice cold Blazers could do little to keep up. On a day when everyone in the basketball world was talking about Luka Doncic and his otherworldly game against LA’s other team, the Lakers aggressively snatched back the spotlight.
How the rest of the series goes might depend on the health of Davis and Lillard but this series looks all but finished. As we all know, the final nail in any NBA coffin to close a team out in the playoffs is the most difficult to hammer in. Portland is still talented and won’t just lay down. Nonetheless, the uphill climb the team needs to scale is probably too steep at this point.
Portland came into the playoffs arguably the hottest team in the bubble, losing only twice to the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics. The hot bubble play was a necessity with the team having to fight off the Memphis Grizzlies and equally hot Phoenix Suns for the No. 8 seed in the West. The need to have their feet constantly on the gas pedal just to make the playoffs looks to have finally caught up to the Trail Blazers. Look for the Lakers to drop the final hammer blow in Game 5 Wednesday evening.
