NBA on Oct.18: LeBron James loses first game with Lakers

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The 2018-19 NBA regular season continued on Thursday as LeBron James played his first game with the Los Angeles Lakers against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center. Unfortunately, LA lost 119-128 because of their catastrophic three-pointer shooting.

It's all about three-pointers

Nik Stauskas #6 of the Portland Trail Blazers made the biggest contribution to his team's victory with five three-pointers. /VCG Photo

Before the game, the Trail Blazers paid respect to Paul Allen, the team's former owner who passed away on October 15 by putting a "Rip City" (nickname of the Trail Blazers) cap and a rose on Allen's regular chair.

The Lakers gained initial lead 25-15 in the first quarter by focusing on attacking the rim. However, as James was walked off the court, Portland launched a quick counter strike as Nik Stauskas made four consecutive three-pointers. When the first quarter came to an end, the Trail Blazers already turned the tide and led 34-31.

LeBron James #23 scores his first two points for the Lakers with a dunk. /VCG Photo

Unlike the past teams James has played for, the Lakers did not have enough shooters waiting for their super star's delivery but that still could not justify the team's failure to make even one three-pointer in the first half. Thanks to their high efficiency and adhering to the transitional offense, the Lakers were only trailing 63-65 after the first half.

In the second half, LA continued their style of attacking the paint area in transition and finally made two three-pointers thanks to Josh Hart. Portland managed to keep their lead 93-91 as their backcourt dual star, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum began to make three-pointers, too.

Damian Lillard helps the Trail Blazers expand their lead to 10 with a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. /VCG Photo

In the last quarter, the game went with a similar scenario until Lillard made another three-pointer when there were only five minutes left, expanding Portland's lead to 10. The Lakers never managed to catch up and had to leave with a loss.

LeBron James scored 26 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, which were okay numbers for him. Trail Blazers' Lillard, McCollum and Stauskas all took over 20 points. Stauskas made five three-pointers out of eight, only two fewer than the whole team of the Lakers (7/30).

Kelly Olynyk helps Heat win with a 0.2-second buzzer

Kelly Olynyk #9 helps the Miami Heat win the game with a 0.2-second buzzer beater. /VCG Photo

The Washington Wizards lost their first game in the new season at home against the Miami Heat 112-113. Though the capital team could not send Dwight Howard because of back issues, Miami were playing a back-to-back game after losing 101-104 to the Orlando Magic and thus were the more tired team.

The two teams kept the game in a stalemate for most of the time. In the last minute, John Wall put the Wizards back to lead 112-111 by scoring, assisting and two consecutive blocks, leaving 6.6 seconds for the Heat. Though Dwyane Wade missed the last shot but Miami's big man Kelly Olynyk put the ball back into the basket 0.2 seconds before the end of the game, bringing his team victory.

Dwyane Wade now ranks 35th of total shots made in NBA history. /VCG Photo

Wall scored 26 points and 10 assists while Bradley Bill made 20 points for Washington. Josh Richardson took 28 points for Miami, including 13 in the last quarter. Wade made four shots out eleven, making his total shots made 8,045 in the regular season, the same as George Gervin and Terry Cummings and ranking No.35 in NBA history.

Joel Embiid #21 brings the Philadelphia 76ers a win with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks. /VCG Photo

In another game on Thursday, the Philadelphia 76ers took a big win against the Chicago Bulls 127-108 at home. Joel Embiid scored 30 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks for the 76ers. His teammate Ben Simmons took his first triple double of 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Zach Lavine and Bobby Porti scored respectively 30 and 20 points for the Bulls.