Deandre Ayton had 29 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots against his former team, leading the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers to a 123-115 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

This is your Game Day discussion thread. We’ll have one of these for the first and second halves of every game this season! Each game is followed by an Instant Recap right after the horn, extended analysis a little later on, and reports from press row for home games.

The Thunder announced its injury report, listing Holmgren, Dort, and Alex Caruso (rest) out for Wednesday’s matchup. For the second time this week, head coach Mark Daigneault will enters a game missing two of his starters, as Holmgren and Dort were ruled out for Sunday’s 137-106 blowout win against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Wesley had initially been ruled as “out indefinitely” following the announcement of his broken bone. This timeline would put his earliest return date somewhere around the end of the year.

The Los Angeles Lakers will be with Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic, and LeBron James on Monday when they face the Portland Trail Blazers.

WW didn’t publish a Blazers season preview last month, which turns out to be just as well. Having been given a mulligan, it’s time for us to preview this second season being built out of the wreckage of the first.

Jrue Holiday had 27 points and eight assists, and he hit four free throws in the final seconds to help the Portland Trail Blazers hold off a late Utah rally and beat the Jazz 136-134.

The Portland Trail Blazers suffered a dispiriting loss to the Los Angeles Lakers last night. It’s the first morale-buster the franchise has endured since the unexpected Week 1 loss of their head coach Chauncey Billups.