The Lakers put up 129 points at home last week and still walked away with a loss. Luka Dončić had 41 points and nine assists, but Ja Morant hit back-to-back jumpers, Damian Lillard buried a three with 43 seconds left, and Portland escaped Crypto Arena with a 136–129 win.

Now the two teams are back in the same building Friday at 10 p.m. ET on Prime Video for Night 2 of the Emirates NBA Cup. The rematch comes with one big change: Morant won’t be on the floor after suffering a Grade 2 left hamstring strain two nights after Portland’s win. If this one gets tight again, Portland will need someone else to deliver in the closing minutes.

The Lakers Already Used Up Some Breathing Room

Golden State’s the only team in West Group C with a win, after beating the Lakers 112–95 on opening night. L.A. led by as many as 25 in that game, too. Steph Curry hit eight threes and the Lakers coughed it up 20 times.

Portland, San Antonio, and Sacramento are all getting started in Cup play this week, with the Spurs and Kings tipping off at the same time in Sacramento.

The setup’s pretty simple: You get four group games, one against each opponent. Win the group, and you’re into the quarterfinals. Finish second, and you’re fighting the West’s other second-place teams for one wild-card spot. Friday’s winner gets the head-to-head tiebreaker if these two end up tied. Scoring margin can settle ties within the group, and it’s the first tiebreaker across groups for the wild card. So yeah, that meaningless-looking bucket with 20 seconds left can come back to matter three weeks later.

Luka and Dame Get the Billing. Watch Who Gets the Second Shot.

Dončić had 45 against Toronto on Sunday, then came back the next night with 42 and 13 assists against Miami. The assists are the part worth sitting with. Miami sent two defenders at him in the first minute, and the Lakers got an open three out of it. Send that second guy too early, and Luka can find Austin Reaves with room to drive or Walker Kessler rolling to the rim. Portland has to make those choices while Luka’s still more than happy to take the shot himself.

Lillard can pull a defense out just as far, and Portland’s best counter might be letting him do it without the ball. Deni Avdija had 23 points and nine assists in the first meeting. With Morant out in Denver on Monday, he scored nine of his 28 in the fourth quarter. Jrue Holiday added 10 assists off the bench, and Toumani Camara hit the three that pushed the lead back to six with just over a minute left. If Lillard takes a defender with him beyond the arc, Avdija has room to get downhill and make someone else decide whether they can really leave a shooter.

The thing I’d be watching in the last five minutes is whether the Lakers can actually finish a stop. Donovan Clingan grabbed nine offensive rebounds by himself in Denver. Portland had 21 as a team. If Kessler steps up to contest Lillard or Avdija, somebody else has to put a body on Clingan. Otherwise, you can spend 20 seconds playing good defense and still end up watching Dame catch the ball with his feet set while everyone’s scrambling to find their man.

Who Wins?

I’ll take the Lakers in a close one. I trust Dončić and Reaves to find a good shot when Portland takes away the first option, and with Morant out, the Blazers are missing a guy who can create something out of nothing when they need a bucket. If L.A. wins by getting stops and cleaning up the glass, I’ll buy that they learned from the first meeting.

Luka could give you 40 either way. We’ve already seen that.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com.

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