Instead, they could only watch as …

Instead, they could only watch as Portland star Damian Lillard danced on the court in front of them while the game still was tightly contested, a testament to his poise and calm in a tense moment — the kind of poise that allowed him to make three late three-pointers, all from at least 30 feet away. His heroics lifted the eighth-seeded Trail Blazers to a 100-93 victory over the top-seeded Lakers in Game 1 of their first-round series. “We had a couple breakdowns,” James said. “… Can’t make mistakes in the postseason. I believe we made some mistakes defensively. We played hard. There were some mistakes that we made especially going down the stretch.”