Ryan Kelly made up for a botched and costly pass late in the game Monday night, punching home a game-winning jam to give the Los Angeles Lakers a dramatic 104-102 preseason victory against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.
Basketball is fun! pic.twitter.com/33qK2co9CX
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 20, 2015
Ryan Kelly says he will not enter the NBA dunk contest: "Not even thinking about it."
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) October 20, 2015
Kelly faked out the Portland defense, which was expecting someone else to get the rock, and waltzed to the hoop for the clutch hoop.
Per the OC Register:
“I didn’t figure they would give him the lane that open,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “He did a great job of reading it.” […] The Lakers have won consecutive preseason games – Saturday’s 85-70 victory over Golden State by default, after the game in San Diego was called off due to a wet court – without Kobe Bryant.
Kelly’s dunk might have stolen the show, but it was a play that probably shouldn’t have been needed. […] The Lakers blew a nine-point lead in 45.2 seconds, capped by a blown inbounds play that led to a 3 by Portland’s Pat Connaughton with 4.8 seconds remaining to tie the game at 102.
“The takeaway from this game will be those last two minutes,” Kelly said, “when we made a bunch of mistakes which led to that end-of-game play having to happen.”