Lakers player grades: L.A. suffers its first loss of the new season

The Los Angeles Lakers took a 3-0 record into Tuesday's home game against the Portland Trail Blazers , a young team on the rise. Perhaps it was a little too easy to underestimate how dangerous and feisty the Trail Blazers are coming into this contest. This one was a shootout from the start. The Lakers were able to end the first quarter with a 38-32 lead, and after Portland made things tighter, they went on a 13-0 run spanning the end of the second quarter and the start of the third quarter to take a 79-68 lead. But just when it looked like perhaps Los Angeles was going to scoot its way to another win, Portland went on a surge and ended the third quarter down 103-102. Portland surged ahead 114-106 with 7:56 left, and following a 14-4 Lakers run, Portland flexed down the stretch thanks to some "Dame Time." Damian Lillard showed his old form by scoring seven points in the final four minutes, while the Lakers cooled off offensively, resulting in a 136-129 Trail Blazers victory. The Trail Blazers went with a zone defense down the stretch, and that was a major factor in the Lakers suffering their first loss of the season. They shot 45.5% from the field in the fourth quarter after making at least 55% of their attempts in each of the first three periods, and in particular, they struggled from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, as they went 3-of-13 from that distance in the period. Next up for the Lakers will be a drive to Inglewood and a matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Matisse Thybulle: D The Lakers could've used more from Thybulle on both ends of the floor. In 22 minutes, he attempted five shots and made two of them while going 1-of-4 from 3-point range, giving him five points. On the other end of the court, Thybulle wasn't able to slow down Lillard down the stretch. With under a minute left in the fourth quarter, he got faked out by Lillard, who then stepped to the left and drained a 3-pointer to put Portland ahead by six points. He also spent time guarding Ja Morant, who went 9-of-13 from the field for 23 points. Thybulle had two rebounds and one assist, but he didn't register a single steal or block. Ziaire Williams: B Williams continues to play solid complementary offense for the Lakers. He made four of his five shot attempts and two of his three 3-point tries on Tuesday, giving him 11 points in 29 minutes, and he also contributed two rebounds, four assists and two steals. While he could've done a better job defensively, especially in crunch time, Williams did have two steals, and he did a decent job of running the floor in transition. But in the second half, he was called for a technical foul for what was deemed flopping by the referees. He had already been fined $2,000 for flopping in Sunday's 132-123 win against the Utah Jazz Walker Kessler: B Kessler started to stockpile rebounds in the second half after not being a factor on the boards in the first half. He finished with eight rebounds, as well as 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, two blocks and one steal. He did, however, commit four turnovers, and he made just one of his four free throw attempts. With 1:44 to go in the fourth quarter, Kessler was fouled by Lillard with the Lakers down 130-127, but he missed both ensuing free-throw attempts. Austin Reaves: B-plus/A-minus Reaves was highly efficient again in this game. He made eight of his 13 shot attempts and half of his eight attempts from beyond the arc, allowing him to finish with 26 points. He also dished off seven assists and had four rebounds without committing a single turnover. But he was another Lakers player who got schooled on the defensive end in crunch time, and of course, defense has always been a concern for Reaves. Luka Doncic: A-minus Doncic exploded for 52 points and 10 assists on Sunday. He was in his bag again on Tuesday versus the Trail Blazers. He scored 24 points in the first half, and through three quarters, he had put up 36 points. But Doncic was unusually quiet in the fourth quarter with just six points on three shot attempts. Credit Portland's defense for that, but he was still able to put 42 points on the board while going 12-of-22 overall, 6-of-15 from downtown and 11-of-13 from the free throw line. He also logged nine assists, five rebounds and one block, and after committing 21 turnovers in the first three games, he had just two of them on Tuesday. Sandro Mamukelashvili: A-minus Mamukelashvili gave the Lakers a boost with 13 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer and put the team ahead 73-68. He cooled off in the second half, but he still scored 17 points on 6-of-9 overall shooting and 3-of-4 from 3-point land, plus two assists and one block in 24 minutes. Los Angeles could've used more from Mamukelashvili on the boards. He had a modest four rebounds, and altogether, L.A. was outrebounded 38-31 while getting outscored in the paint 56-48. Collin Sexton: D-plus/C-minus Sexton scored nine points in 14 minutes, but he made just four of his 11 shot attempts and missed all five of his 3-point attempts while committing three turnovers. He did, however, help out with four assists and one rebound. Quentin Grimes: D For the second straight game, Grimes was virtually a complete non-factor. He had just three points on Sunday against Utah, and on Tuesday, he mustered two points on 1-of-4 field-goal shooting while going 0-of-3 from long distance in 19 minutes. He needs to provide a lot more offense for the Lakers if they are to take the next step forward this season, especially given how much their bench struggled to score points last season. Jake LaRavia: C/C-plus In 19 minutes, LaRavia made both of his shot attempts, including a 3-pointer, to score five points. He also contributed one rebound, one assist and three steals. Kevon Looney: F Looney made no positive statistical contributions in five minutes of playing time. It's starting to look like the Lakers are at a real disadvantage whenever he's on the court for them.