Things seemed in jeopardy early, when OKC went down 13 points in the opening frame, largely due to James Harden’s white-hot shooting. Though the Thunder would see a blistering second half featuring plenty of crisp offense and now-patented defense.

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.

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.

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.

And with Splitter at the helm, the Trail Blazers (1-1) picked up a resounding, evenly earned win, even as Golden State's Stephen Curry put up 35 points. Eight Portland players ended with double-digit points, led by Deni Avdija with 26 and followed by Jerami Grant with 22 off the bench.

The Los Angeles Lakers (5-2) travel to the Moda Center to face the Portland Trail Blazers (4-2) this NBA matchup on Monday.

The basketball bounced differently at Moda Center for the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Maybe it was the weight of everything that had happened in the past 48 hours, or maybe it was just pure,

Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Smith Jr. revealed he was sick but was determined to play against the Portland Trail Blazers.