NBA
LeBron James reacts after Lakers’ sensational comeback against Trail Blazers
The Lakers were outscored by 32 points in the second quarter in Portland, but came roaring back in the second half.
It was a game of two halves at Moda Center as the Los Angeles Lakers overturned a 25-point deficit to beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. When the Lakers went in trailing by 25 at the half, they had just experienced the wrong side of the joint second-biggest scoring margin in one quarter since the NBA added the three-point arc in 1979.
Portland outscored the visitors 45-13 in the second quarter, but LeBron James and his team-mates would not lie down.
LeBron’s Lakers never lie down
The Lakers came back to register 75 points in the second half, while only allowing 41, turning around the 25-point deficit to win by nine.
“I guess it’s only one or two ways, you can either go out and you can lay down and get ready for the next game or you can see what happens in the third quarter, make a game of it,” James said after the victory.
“And for us as competitors, and our team and our makeup this year, we’re not a lay-down team. That’s just not the makeup of our club.”
James scored 37 with 11 rebounds as he closed in further on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record (224 points to go at time of writing), while Thomas Bryant added 31 with 14 rebounds as the Lakers produced their second-biggest half-time deficit comeback win in franchise history.
“They jumped on us and knocked us down,” James added. “Thank God for the standing eight count.”