Luka Drops 52, the West Goes 3-0, and Portland Gets Its Measuring Stick
NO GAME TODAY. That makes three straight days off for the 2-0 Blazers, and the rest of the West spent them winning. Every 2-0 team in the conference won Sunday, so Portland woke up Monday sixth without losing a game. Tuesday's national-TV trip to the Lakers (8 p.m. PT, Crypto.com Arena, NBC and Peacock, not on BlazerVision or KUNP) is now a meeting with the hottest scorer in the league.
Standings check: the 3-0 logjam
Per ESPN, the West now has five 3-0 teams: Minnesota, Oklahoma City, the Lakers, Memphis and Houston. Portland (2-0) is sixth, a half-game back, because it's played one fewer game. Sunday's results: the Lakers won 132-123 at Utah, Oklahoma City beat the Clippers 108-101, Minnesota beat Toronto 117-94 in its home opener, and Memphis won 123-112 at Sacramento. Denver and Phoenix are 1-1. San Antonio, the Clippers, Utah and Dallas are 1-2. New Orleans, Golden State and Sacramento are 0-3.
Note the Grizzlies, who visit Moda Center on Thursday. Ty Jerome scored 31 in Sacramento and went 14-for-14 at the line (AP), three games after scoring a career-high 45 in the opener (ESPN's Ben Golliver). Memphis is 3-0, and two of Portland's next three opponents are unbeaten.
Luka watch
Luka Doncic scored 52 Sunday in Salt Lake City, the first 50-point game of the season. He made eight threes and added 10 assists and seven rebounds, and the Lakers came back after Utah blew an 18-point second-quarter lead (ESPN; AP). Austin Reaves scored 29, and the two went a combined 21-of-24 at the line. ESPN Research says it was Doncic's fourth career game with 50 points and 10 assists, which broke a tie for second all-time with Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook, Nate Archibald and, yes, Damian Lillard. Only James Harden (8) has more. Marc Stein called him "my MVP favorite." Doncic is averaging 34.3 points through three games (ESPN). One thing went right for opponents: Walker Kessler had two points and seven rebounds in his first game back in Utah.
Tale of the tape
Here are ESPN's team numbers after two Portland games and three Lakers games. Scoring: Lakers 128.0, Portland 126.0. Shooting: L.A. is shooting 54.5% overall and 42.1% from three (45-of-107). Portland is at 47.9% and 34.7% (33-of-95). Glass: Portland averages 50.5 rebounds, the Lakers 37.0. That 13.5-rebound gap is the biggest edge Portland has. Turnovers: Lakers 16.3 a game, Portland 13.0.
Lakers look-ahead
Schedule spot: The Lakers play the Clippers on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. PT, per the Lakers' schedule on NBA.com, so Tuesday is the first night of a back-to-back for them. Portland hasn't played since Friday. The line: As of Monday morning, ESPN had no spread or total posted, and Winners & Whiners still lists the prices as pending. ESPN Analytics' Matchup Predictor gives L.A. a 52.4% chance to win. Sports Mole's preview picks Lakers -4.5 and the over at 228.5, but that's a pick, not a book's number. Projected L.A. starters (Sports Mole): Doncic, Reaves, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle, Kessler. History: Portland went 2-1 against L.A. last season, including a 122-108 win at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 27, 2025 (NBA.com). The teams meet four times this year and play in L.A. again Nov. 6.
Four keys. 1) Win the glass by double digits. That's the 13.5-rebound gap in practice, and it's how Portland survives a shooting night like the 14-of-48 at Sacramento. 2) Make Doncic work on defense. Avdija and Camara have to put him in actions every time down the floor. A team averaging 16.3 turnovers can be sped up. 3) Stay out of foul trouble against Kessler. Clingan picked up two fouls in the first 1:45 on Friday, and Portland's size edge doesn't exist when he's on the bench. 4) Spend the rest. Three days off against a team with the Clippers waiting Wednesday should show up in the fourth quarter. If Nori closes with defense again like he did in Sacramento, legs will matter.
Injuries
Confirmed Portland: Shaedon Sharpe (knee) is out, and ESPN's tracker estimates a return in early March. Chris Youngblood (ankle) and Branden Carlson (concussion protocol) are day-to-day. Neither is in the projected rotation. Lakers: Adou Thiero (knee) and Cameron Carr (oblique) are out (ESPN; AP). The official NBA report for Tuesday hasn't been filed yet.
Confirmed West rival: Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams was taken off the court on a stretcher with what ESPN called a significant lower left leg injury, with 1:14 left in Sunday's win over the Clippers. There was no diagnosis as of Monday morning. Cason Wallace (left shoulder) and Jaylin Williams (right wrist) also left that game. On the Hoop Collective, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said the Thunder could apply for a disabled player exception but "cannot replace him." Nobody wants to gain ground this way, but it affects the race Portland is in.
The option clock
Confirmed There are five days left. Portland's 2027-28 rookie-scale options on Donovan Clingan ($9,550,298) and Yang Hansen ($4,864,920) are due Oct. 31, and as of Monday morning Spotrac's tracker still showed both as not exercised. Around the West, Memphis has already picked up Zach Edey's and Cedric Coward's options, and Dallas has picked up Cooper Flagg's (Spotrac). Clingan's is an easy call. Yang has been a DNP, and he's getting talked about.
Rumor Mill
Nothing new on Portland from Shams Charania, Marc Stein or Jake Fischer since Sunday's update. Stein spent Sunday on Kawhi Leonard (out with left knee swelling) and Cooper Flagg (upgraded to questionable). Rumor The standing items haven't changed. Dwight Jaynes says Travis Demers has a full-season contract, while The Oregonian's Joe Freeman reported a trial deal. Heavy's Sean Deveney calls Jrue Holiday Portland's best realistic trade chip, but that's an analyst's view, not a report of talks.
Small stuff & media notes
The crunch-time benching story is still going. Roundtable revisited it Monday, built on Lillard's line to The Athletic's Jason Quick about sitting late with Ja Morant: "Neither one of us, you know, are probably used to that." Golliver's ESPN list of 30 breakout candidates, out Monday, has no Blazers on it but does include Reaves and Kessler. The Blazers' X account posted "back in the office 馃搷" Sunday evening. The NBA announced Monday that it's partnering with prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket and expanding its DraftKings deal (ESPN). And Stein notes tonight is a "Sports Equinox," with NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB games on the same night for just the 33rd time, per Basketball Reference's founders.
Next up
Tue, Oct. 27 路 at Lakers 路 8 p.m. PT 路 NBC/Peacock. Thu, Oct. 29 路 vs. Memphis 路 7 p.m. PT 路 BlazerVision/KUNP. Sat, Oct. 31 路 at Utah 路 noon PT 路 BlazerVision/KUNP. The full game-day package (rosters, uniform matchup, pregame poster) goes up Tuesday.
Sources: ESPN standings, scoreboards, team stats, injury tracker and Matchup Predictor; ESPN Research; AP; NBA.com; Ben Golliver, ESPN; Brian Windhorst, ESPN Hoop Collective; Marc Stein; Spotrac; Sports Mole; Winners & Whiners; Jason Quick, The Athletic, via Roundtable; Dwight Jaynes via Blazer's Edge; Joe Freeman, The Oregonian; Sean Deveney, Heavy; @trailblazers on X.