Portland has started two 6-foot-2 guards in both of its games. Damian Lillard and Ja Morant opened beside Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan against Phoenix and Sacramento, per the Basketball Reference box scores. Jrue Holiday, a six-time All-Defensive pick, has come off the bench both nights.
That is the matchup I want the Lakers to chase tonight. Luka Doncic will get the attention, and he should. But the player who should eat in this game is Austin Reaves, and the Lakers should spend the night forcing Lillard and Morant to guard him.
The game tips at 11 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. in Los Angeles, per the NBA’s 5 p.m. injury report. Both teams are unbeaten. The Lakers are 3-0 after wins over Golden State, the Clippers and Utah. Portland is 2-0 after beating Phoenix 124-83 and winning 128-120 in Sacramento.
Camara Takes Luka, So Someone Takes Reaves
Start with how Portland will probably guard Doncic. Ethen Hutton of Blazers On SI expects Camara to be called on to slow him, and wrote in his preview that “Neither Lillard or Morant are likely to draw the individual assignment over Doncic” for Portland. I agree. Camara made an All-Defensive team in 2024-25, per Basketball Reference, and he is 6-foot-7. Portland would be silly to give the league’s leading scorer a small guard on purpose.
The trouble for Portland starts once Camara is on Luka. Somebody else in that starting five has to pick up Reaves. Avdija, at 6-foot-8, is the obvious answer. If he takes Reaves, then Lillard and Morant are guarding two of Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and Walker Kessler. Portland wants that, because none of those three are going to beat you off the dribble.
So the Lakers should make those three into screeners. Put Thybulle or Williams in a ball screen for Reaves and the small guard on him has to do something. Switch, and Lillard or Morant is now on Reaves in space. Show and recover, and Reaves gets a two-on-one with the screener. If that screener is Thybulle, he has made 46.7% of his threes so far, per Basketball Reference. Either way, the Blazers’ least favorite defender is in the play.
The other route is the Doncic and Reaves two-man game. Run Reaves off a Luka screen, or Luka off a Reaves screen, and Portland has to decide whether Camara switches onto Reaves. If he does, the small guard ends up near Luka. Of all the matchups Portland could give up, that is the one it can least afford.
Reaves Has Earned the Ball
Reaves is shooting 63.9% from the field through three games, per Basketball Reference. He is scoring 26.7 points a night and making 65.2% of his twos. Those numbers will come down. The part I trust more is how he is getting there.
He is taking 9.7 free throws per game. Last season he averaged 7.3, and that was already a career high. In the three games so far, he went 10-for-10 at the line against Golden State and 11-for-13 at Utah. A guard who gets to the line that often is driving into contact, and contact is exactly what a 6-foot-2 defender wants to avoid when he is giving away three inches.
We have made the case for protecting Reaves’ chances to create beside Doncic and for letting him take more threes. Tonight is a good test of both. If he gets a small defender on a switch, I want him going downhill first and shooting second. If the help comes, he has already shown he will find someone. He is averaging 6.3 assists.
Sacramento already gave Portland a preview of how this goes. Darius Acuff Jr. scored 33 on Friday and took 12 free throws, and the Kings went 28-for-30 at the line as a team, per the box score. Portland still won by eight, so I would not oversell it. But a guard who kept attacking got points against this group.
The Holiday Minutes and the Turnovers
There is a catch. When Holiday checks in, Portland gets a 6-foot-4 guard who has made six All-Defensive teams and can live on Reaves for a while. He played 26 minutes off the bench in Sacramento. I would have the Lakers lean hardest on the Reaves actions while Lillard and Morant are both on the floor, then go back to Luka-heavy offense when Holiday is out there.
The other catch is the ball. The Lakers are turning it over 16.3 times a game, and Doncic is averaging 7.0 by himself after an 11-turnover night against the Clippers, per Basketball Reference. Portland is averaging 10 steals. Morant had three in the opener. We wrote about how Reaves and Kessler covered for the giveaways against the Clippers, and that is part of my argument here. Running more of the offense through Reaves takes some of the dribbling load off Luka, which means fewer chances for Morant to jump a lazy pass.
Reaves is not clean either. He is averaging 4.3 turnovers himself. Attacking a mismatch only helps if the attack ends in a shot, a foul or a pass to someone open. Driving into Clingan, who is 7-foot-2, and throwing it to nobody is the same mistake with a different defender.
Don’t Let Them Hide on Defense Either
The hunting goes both ways. Lillard is scoring 22 points a game, per Basketball Reference, and made six of 10 threes against Phoenix before going 2-for-10 in Sacramento. Camara has been the bigger surprise, making nine of his 17 threes over the two games. Portland is putting up 47.5 threes a night, per Basketball Reference’s team page.
Thybulle, who played for Portland last season, is the Lakers’ best bet to chase Lillard over screens. We went through why Thybulle is the wing stopper as long as his body holds up, and this is the job that profile was built for. He is averaging 2.0 steals as a Laker. Let Ziaire Williams take Morant, and keep Kessler near the rim for whatever gets past them.
Portland also comes in with injuries. Shaedon Sharpe is out after right meniscus surgery and Scoot Henderson is questionable with left ankle soreness, per the NBA report. The Lakers are without Cameron Carr (right oblique strain) and Adou Thiero (left knee swelling). Kessler is listed as available with a left finger splint.
What I’m Watching
Portland’s numbers look scary: second in offensive rating, third in defensive rating and first in net rating, per Basketball Reference. That is two games, one of them a 41-point blowout of Phoenix. The Lakers are the first offense that can really test the second number.
The first few possessions after a Portland substitution will tell me a lot. If the Lakers spot Lillard or Morant on Reaves and run the same action until Portland changes it, they are playing the matchup. If every trip still starts with Luka dribbling at Camara for 15 seconds, they are playing into Portland’s plan.
Doncic will get his numbers. Make the two small guards spend all night trying to stay in front of Reaves.