Portland Trail Blazers vs Los Angeles Lakers Box Score on Dec 23, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 24, 2017

LOS ANGELES -- Maurice Harkless scored 13 of his season-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Portland Trail Blazers to a 95-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.

The Trail Blazers (17-16) have won 14 straight against the Lakers and eight in a row at Staples Center.

Shabazz Napier started in place of injured leading scorer Damian Lillard and had 21 points. CJ McCollum scored 17 points and Zach Collins contributed 11 off the bench for Portland.

Harkless, who came in averaging 4.9 points, grabbed an offensive rebound, put it back while being fouled and made the free throw with 21.4 seconds left to give Portland a 94-92 lead. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope missed two 3-point tries in the final 10 seconds for the Lakers.

Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points apiece for the Lakers, who played without second-leading scorer Brandon Ingram (right quadriceps contusion and left quadriceps tendinitis). Lonzo Ball had 10 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and Julius Randle added 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

The Trail Blazers scored the first five points of the game but then missed 10 consecutive shots as the Lakers moved ahead 10-7 on a 3-pointer by Josh Hart, who started in place of Ingram.

The Lakers (11-20) started 6 for 17 from the field but made 4 of 5 in the final 3 1/2 minutes and took their biggest lead of the opening quarter at 24-17 on Randle's drive with 10.7 seconds left.

Portland scored the first six points of the second quarter to pull within a point and prompt Lakers coach Luke Walton to call a timeout. The Trail Blazers twice pulled even with the Lakers in the second quarter but couldn't get the lead. Los Angeles took a 49-44 lead into the break.

The Lakers led by as many as nine on two occasions in the third quarter before the Trail Blazers made two 3-pointers in the final minute to tie the score at 70 entering the fourth.

NOTES: Portland reserve PF Noah Vonleh sat out after dislocated his right ring finger against Denver on Friday night. ... Lakers C Thomas Bryant made his NBA debut after the 2017 second-round pick from Indiana was recalled from the G League on Dec. 16. Bryant had one point in four minutes. ... The Trail Blazers' 14-game winning streak is the second longest against the Lakers in franchise history. ... The Lakers came in last in the NBA in free-throw shooting at 69.4 and went 12 of 20 against the Trail Blazers.