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Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers fan diary

By Emilee Woods

PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 18: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers huddles with teammates in the first quarter of their game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on October 18, 2018 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 18: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers huddles with teammates in the first quarter of their game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on October 18, 2018 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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Check out a fan’s diary from the Los Angeles Lakers 2018-19 season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Revved up for our season opener and the Los Angeles Lakers debut for LeBron James, I geared up to watch tonight’s game. These were my biggest takeaways.

1st Quarter

Straight out of the gate, we got the most fun three minutes of Lakers basketball in years. The energy from LeBron was matched by both his teammates and the Portland crowd, which was so loud in support that I kept forgetting we weren’t in LA. And that is saying something in a city where we are notoriously detested and have a horrible track record.

After the amped-up start, the second unit came in and looked horribly lost. While some sort of regression was to be expected after the inevitable dynamism out of the gate, we didn’t just calm down; we bottomed out.

Portland made up a 10-point deficit and took the lead while LeBron looked on from the bench. The defensive rotations were clearly not quite there yet, which is perfectly understandable for the first game of the season by a group of players with very limited experience playing together.

I feel like that first quarter was a perfect encapsulation of what this season will bring: amazing stretches of entertaining basketball interspersed with abysmal lows in which we barely look like a professional team. On the upside, the first unit and Kuzma looked even better than expected. The flip is that everyone else looked significantly worse.

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