If you squint just long enough and use just a touch of imagination, you can see traces of what the Portland Trail Blazers were supposed to be.
The long and rangy defense. The waves of athleticism. The depth and versatility.
The tough out.
“It feels like we’re starting to be the team that everyone thought we were going to be at the beginning of the year,” Donovan Clingan said, flashing a wide smile. “Hopefully, once we get everyone healthy, we’re going to make a big jump and we’re going to start winning a lot of games. This is just the start of it and it feels really good.”
The Blazers dismissed the Los Angeles Lakers 132-116 on Saturday night, showcasing depth, dominance and maturity before 19,335 at Moda Center.
Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday took one more positive step away from their extended injuries, Caleb Love continued his surprising midseason surge, Shaedon Sharpe had another solid performance and the Blazers (21-22) showed off their ever-improving health, earning their ninth win in the last 12 games.
Before tipoff, the Blazers were consumed by flashbacks and the unsavory memories of Nov. 3, 2025. On that day, the shorthanded Lakers visited Portland and — despite playing without Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves — snuck away with an eight-point win that ended the Blazers’ early-season three-game winning streak.
Flash forward to Saturday and the Lakers (24-16) were playing shorthanded yet again. James was back. But there was no Doncic, no Reaves, and former Blazers center Deandre Ayton sat on the bench with a salmon-colored hoodie draped over his head for 48 minutes.
“I felt like it was a dangerous game with all of their guys out … the same way we lost (last time) at home,” Blazers acting coach Tiago Splitter said. “I think it was kind of like a trap game where we had to bring a sense of urgency and do the job right and be serious about it.”
But the trap never materialized. The Blazers lapped the Lakers early, reeling off a 40-point first quarter, and bludgeoned them late, building a 24-point fourth-quarter lead. It wasn’t the prettiest game or the shortest — it lasted 2 hours, 21 minutes, featured 55 free throws and an uncanny number of official stoppages and reviews — but it was another impressive showing by a team that, finally, mercifully, is returning to health.
The offense shot 53% from the field and enjoyed its second-highest scoring performance in a month. The defense suffocated everyone not named Marcus Smart (25 points, four three-pointers) and Drew Timme (21 points, 9 of 12 shooting). And the combination delivered the Blazers’ second 16-point victory in three days.
Toumani Camara was quick to say the Blazers are “not close to being” the team they want to be. But no one can argue that they’re inching closer and closer to being the team they were before injuries and illnesses wrecked their mojo.
The Blazers aren’t playing a breakneck pace and applying relentless full-court pressure defense. They’re not running and gunning and hunting fast-break opportunities. And Splitter isn’t substituting in waves as if he was a hockey coach using line changes.
But the return of Holiday (Sunday) and Grant (Thursday), the emergence of Sidy Cissoko and Love, and the development of young players like Clingan and Sharpe have bolstered the Blazers’ depth and versatility to heights it hasn’t seen in years. One can only imagine the possibilities when Deni Avdija — who missed his third consecutive game with a strained lower back — returns.
“We definitely got a lot of depth,” Grant said. “Do I know what it looks like? No. But we definitely have a lot of weapons.”
The weapons attacked from all angles against the Lakers. Sharpe finished with 25 points, four assists and two steals. Clingan recorded 18 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Love (22 points, seven assists) and Grant (22 points) provided firepower off the bench.
Five Blazers reached double-figures in scoring and two more (Camara and Holiday) fell one point short.
Holiday and Grant continue to play under strict minute-restrictions and it’s unclear if either has been cleared to play in back-to-backs, leaving their availability for Sunday’s visit to Sacramento in question. Before the game, Splitter said the Blazers needed to wait and “see how they feel after the game” before deciding. After the game, Grant said, “I’m not really sure” when asked if he would play against the Kings.
But after holding the Blazers’ rotation together with duct tape and twine for the better part of two months, Splitter is, finally, starting to coach again with options.
And with a long squint here and a little imagination there, one can’t help but contemplate what the second half of the season holds for a team that has seen 12 players miss a combined 238 games this season with injuries and illnesses.
“Yeah, slowly — slowly — we see that,” Splitter said, when asked if he sees the team returning to its early-season ways. “Of course, we know they’re not 100%. Jrue has still got to get in shape. Jerami is still not there. Deni is still out. But slowly we are starting to see that picture again.”
Next up
The Blazers play the Miami Heat on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Moda Center.