Los Angeles Lakers should close out Portland without Damian Lillard

The Los Angeles Lakers were able to win their third straight game against the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4.

After losing the first game of the series against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers have responded in a big way. The Lakers have won three straight games, with two of them being rather convincing.

With a chance to really take control of the series, the Lakers didn’t disappoint in Game 4. Los Angeles was able to win by 20-points on Mamba Day, as they certainly made Kobe Bryant proud. At one point during the game, the Lakers actually had a 24-8 lead.

Now that the Lakers have a 3-1 series lead, all focus will be turning to finishing this off. In the Game 4 loss, the Portland Trail Blazers suffered a crucial loss, as Damian Lillard was forced to leave the game early.

Unfortunately for Portland, Lillard is going to miss Game 5, and that will likely end up being the final game of the season for them. Lillard is without a doubt the best player on the team and has been playing at a really high level as of late. Without him, it’s hard to imagine the Lakers will be threatened.

Even though Lillard is out, the Lakers will have to be focused and not take Portland lightly. Luckily, the Lakers have a lot of veteran leaders on the team, and LeBron James knows the value of finishing off a series when he has the chance.

For the Lakers, they will hopefully be able to finish off the Blazers in Game 5, and then wait for the winner of the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets series. Getting in some more practice time before the next round will be great, as teams certainly aren’t firing on all cylinders right now.