Los Angeles Lakers: 3 keys to beating the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 31

1.) Make the role players beat you

Damian Lillard is the engine that drives the Blazer’s offense; his shooting, playmaking, and ability to draw multiple defenders open everything up for the rest of the team. Yes, they have ancillary scoring in CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony, but this is still very much Lillard’s team.

As a result, the Lakers are going to have to do everything they can to force the ball out of Lillard’s hands and put pressure on the other guys to step up and hit shots. This is going to be much easier said than done, but the team has several defenders capable of competently defending and pressuring Lillard in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Avery Bradley.

At the end of the day, the Lakers should be content with McCollum, Anthony, or even Hassan Whiteside going off if it means Lillard having an off night.

Although these three are talented scorers in their own right, they have weaknesses in their game that the Lakers can easily defend, as opposed to Lillard who can seemingly create a shot out of nowhere and go on a 10-0 run singlehandedly.