Any self-respecting Laker fan last week should have cheered aggressively for Phoenix, Memphis, Brooklyn, and then Memphis again.

And tonight showed you why. You do not want any part of Damian Lillard in these playoffs.

Lakers lost Game 1 of this first round series to Portland 100-93, making sure to check the box for every weakness they had going in while they did it. Poor guard play overall, even poorer half-court offense, and horrid three point shooting.

Now it’s just one game, but the Lakers need some relatively quick fixes without much to work with. Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were dismal (2-13 from three, KCP 0-9 overall), and as a team the Lakers shot 15% from beyond the arc. Even a team that lays as many bricks as the Lakers do can’t possibly shoot worse than that Thursday, but you can’t expect to survive in today’s league with an outing like that, no matter who you are defensively or on paper.

Again, we can’t expect that poor of a performance back-to-back, but Green has struggled all season and KCP looked like the guy Lakers Twitter roasted nightly a season ago. Head coach Frank Vogel might need to shorten the leash on these guys in certain spots, and look for more offensive options like Dion Waiters or Quinn Cook despite the potential defensive drop-off. Alex Caruso’s defense and intangibles at this point in time have proven to be so invaluable, the Lakers can’t afford to sit him despite his lack of outside shooting. AC also isn’t known for this three point shot like the other two, so when he misses, I don’t sigh as hard, if at all.

LeBron James finished with a triple-double and looked in classic playoff mode at times, completely controlling the pace of the game and chopping up the poor Blazer defense. But in crucial moments he was overpassing, and he and Anthony Davis missed 4 straight free throws about midway through the fourth that had a much bigger impact on the game than I would’ve hoped they would. The King has got to get more aggressive, especially when his supporting cast isn’t cutting it.

AD’s performance sang a similar tune, sometimes he looked like the guy who dominated all year on both ends, and the rest of the time he was the guy that couldn’t buy a basket again when we needed him most and disappears in the fourth. He also uncharacteristically missed 5 free throws on the night. Davis was aggressive early, which is always a plus, but never looked completely in rhythm.

Give credit to Portland, though. Jusuf Nurkić and Hassan Whiteside clogged the paint well for the smaller Trail-Blazers, making life tougher on LeBron and AD, who have feasted inside all season. The tandem of CJ McCollum and Lillard were money late, per the norm. Their role players were also good in the fourth. They got big shots out of Carmelo (speaking of people whose names need respect on them) and Gary Trent Jr. They also got big energy boosts from Wenyen Gabriel early in quarters; he started in the place of an injured Zach Collins, who according to the national broadcast and Twitter was a big loss for Portland in this game??? I’ll take your word for it.

But, the game was not all doom and gloom. The Lakers rightfully dominated the offensive glass and only turned the ball over 9 times. They got into the paint with ease, and had a bunch of opportunities at the rim that just trickled off iron and out. I also don’t think they did a bad job on Lillard and McCollum as a whole, just felt the effects of Dame Time in the fourth, which is a force that nobody can really stop once it gets going.

For me, the Lakers need to find a way to combat these abysmally slow starts that they always seem to get off to at the beginning of both halves. This isn’t really evident against poor teams that can’t sustain their energy over 48 minutes, and the Lakers end up cruising to the win despite coming out flat. But a bunch of times this season, teams that had no business hanging around in the fourth did so because the Lakers played catch up the entire first half by coming out so sluggish. And vice versa, against a great team like the Blazers with lethal outside shooting, good coaching, and Dame mother f’ing Dolla, the catch-up game doesn’t work. Get on them early and often, and put pressure on Lillard and company to hit shots late to stay close rather than to put you away.

Especially since you have no one that can nut up and hit a three of their own.

Frustrations aside, has the panic button been hit? Not at all.

I say again, the Lakers can’t possibly shoot as bad as 15% from distance, and/or 35% from the floor. But they can continue to punish the Blazers inside, and find a way to make someone else not named Damian Lillard beat them. Frank Vogel can go on the offensive with Waiters, Cook, or, I dare say, JR Smith if the offense continues to be a brick-laying juggernaut and see what happens. The Blazers did look visibly gassed late down the stretch, and it is only game one.

But in a game where they didn’t even get “Dame’d” as badly as they will in the games to come, it’s going to take a big Game 2 answer to silence those who think this series could be an 8-seed upset, and turn the series back in favor of the purple and gold.

Even though, let’s be honest, these Blazers are not your average 8th seed; I think people forgot they went to the Western Conference Finals last year.

We waited 7 years to return to the playoffs, Laker Nation. Might as well make it stressful right out of the gate.

Cheers.