Deni Avdija registered 23 points and nine assists and Ja Morant also scored 23 points to help the balanced Portland Trail Blazers post a 136-129 victory over the hosts Los Angeles Lakers on Oct 27 night.

Jrue Holiday added 22 points off the bench and Damian Lillard notched 21 points as Portland won their third straight game to open the season.

Robert Williams III had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Toumani Camara added 12 points for the Trail Blazers. Avdija, Lillard and Camara each drained four three-pointers as Portland hit 18 of 36 from behind the arc.

Luka Doncic recorded 41 points and nine assists for the Lakers two days after he scored 52 points against the Utah Jazz. Austin Reaves added 26 points and seven assists as Los Angeles lost for the first time in four games.

Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 17 points, Walker Kessler had 13 and Ziaire Williams put up 11 for the Lakers, who shot 56.2% from the field and made 17 of 43 (39.5%) from three-point range. Doncic shot 6 of 15 from long range, and Reaves was 4 of 8.

“We got broken down a lot,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of his team’s performance. “The game plan discipline, KYP (know your personnel) personnel discipline wasn’t where it needs to be.

“But we got good looks, and I thought, we had, or I think we have to be able to rely on our defence every night, and if we score 129 points at home, we should be able to get enough stops to win, and credit to Portland for sure.”

Portland, who shot 59% overall, led 128-124 after Avdija connected on a three-pointer with 2:59 remaining. Williams hit a trey of his own for the Lakers 23 seconds later to make it a one-point margin.

Morant’s floater gave the Trail Blazers a 130-127 edge with 2:01 left. He hit another shot with 1:24 to play before Doncic answered with a short basket to cut the deficit back to three with 1:06 remaining.

Lillard then buried a three-pointer to give Portland a 135-129 lead with 43.1 seconds left.

Doncic and Reaves both missed three-point attempts on the Lakers’ next possession, and Holiday later split two free throws to make it a seven-point lead with 18.3 seconds left as Portland closed it out.

“What a great effort all the way through. It wasn’t pretty by any means but everybody that went in the game battled,” said Trail Blazers coach Micah Nori.

“One thing that we talked about pre-game was our depth, and you saw (that) from our bench – 48 points.”

Meanwhile the reigning NBA champions New York Knicks finally got their first win of the season, beating the Detroit Pistons 111-97 on Oct 27 with 27 points from Karl-Anthony Towns and 23 from Jalen Brunson.

The Knicks, who broke a five-decade title drought in June but had lost their three opening games this season, overcame another slow start at Madison Square Garden to pull clear in the second half.

They avoided the ignominy of being the first reigning champions since 1969 to start the following season 0-4.

The Pistons started fast, going 13 points clear at the beginning of the second quarter thanks to free-scoring Paul Reed and Cade Cunningham.

Brunson struggled early, shooting just 1 for 9 in the first half.

But the Knicks pulled together for a remarkable rally, edging a single-point lead at half-time and roaring 25 points clear by the end of the third quarter.

With his team 21 points down, Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff emptied the bench with 7½ minutes remaining.

The Knicks’ starters remained on court, and top scorer Towns finished the night with 20 rebounds.

“We got to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. This is a new year, new team,” said last season’s NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Brunson, who added seven assists.

“Adversity started early, so we just got to fight back.”

Elsewhere, Victor Wembanyama helped the San Antonio Spurs to a 130-103 win over the Sacramento Kings with 29 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and two steals.

Julian Champagnie added 26 points as the Kings sank to 0-4.

Jayson Tatum sank a game-winning buzzer-beater at the end of overtime to ensure the Boston Celtics clinched a thriller 125-124 against the winless Brooklyn Nets.

A tense game in which neither team ever opened a double-digit lead had ended 117-117 after four quarters.

Tatum scored 40 points and recorded eight assists. REUTERS, AFP