Deni Avdija scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half and Jrue Holiday notched 17 of his 24 in the second half as the Portland Trail Blazers recorded a 122-108 victory over the host Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.
Jerami Grant came off the bench to score 22 points as Portland defeated the Lakers for the second straight time after losing the previous six matchups.
Austin Reaves had another big outing with 41 points for the short-handed Lakers and has scored 92 points in the last two nights. Reaves had a career-high 51 in Sunday’s 127-120 road win over the Sacramento Kings.
Reaves made 13 of 22 shots — including 3 of 8 from 3-point range — and was 12 of 14 from the line. However, he committed eight of Los Angeles’ 25 turnovers.
Los Angeles once again played without LeBron James (sciatica) and Luka Doncic (finger/leg contusion). Marcus Smart (quadriceps) and Gabe Vincent (ankle) also sat out the contest.
Donovan Clingan had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Portland, which is 2-1 under interim coach Tiago Splitter. Shaedon Sharpe added 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
Former Trail Blazer DeAndre Ayton had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura and backup Dalton Knecht also had 16 points apiece and Jarred Vanderbilt had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Reaves went over 40 points again when he drained a 3-pointer to pull the Lakers within 115-105 with 3:08 remaining.
However, Toumani Camara converted a layup 24 seconds later and Clingan added a hoop with 1:24 left to make it a 14-point margin as Portland closed it out.
The Trail Blazers made 45.6% of their shots, including 14 of 43 from 3-point range.
Los Angeles connected on 47.1% of its attempts and was 7 of 27 from behind the arc.
Portland scored eight of the first 10 points in the second half to open up a 65-53 advantage.
A short time later, Avdija drained consecutive 3-pointers to give the Trail Blazers a 73-58 lead with 6:46 left in the third quarter.
Los Angeles trailed by seven inside the final minute before Holiday scored the final five points of the period as Portland took an 89-77 lead into the fourth quarter.
Holiday buried two treys in 36 seconds early in the final stanza to give the Trail Blazers a 97-79 lead with 10:28 left.
Avdija had 17 points and Grant added 14 as Portland led 57-51 at halftime. Reaves had 23 points in the half for the Lakers.
