Lillard's late 3 seals a 136-129 Blazers win over the Lakers despite Doncic's 41

Damian Lillard hit a step-back 3-pointer with 43 seconds left on Tuesday night, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 136-129 at Crypto.com Arena to stay unbeaten at 3-0.

The Lakers came in 3-0 as well and led for most of the night. They were ahead for 68% of the game and by as many as 11, according to the ESPN box score, and Luka Doncic had 24 points at halftime as Los Angeles took a 73-68 lead. Doncic finished with 41 points, nine assists and five rebounds on 12-of-22 shooting, and he made 11 of 13 free throws.

The Lakers still led 103-102 after three quarters. The fourth turned into a shootout. Lillard's 27-foot 3 and back-to-back threes from Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija gave Portland a 114-106 lead with 7:56 left, the play-by-play shows, but Sandro Mamukelashvili and Walker Kessler led a 6-0 Lakers answer, and Ziaire Williams' 3 put Los Angeles back ahead 120-118 with 4:43 to go.

Then the teams traded long shots. Jrue Holiday hit a 3, Lillard made a 3 and the free throw for a four-point play, Doncic answered from 28 feet, Avdija hit from 28 feet, and Williams made another 3 to cut it to 128-127 with 2:36 left. Ja Morant scored on a floater and a turnaround jumper to make it 132-127. After Doncic's pull-up, Lillard's step-back off an Avdija pass made it a two-possession game for good.

Portland shot 59% from the field and 18 of 36 from 3-point range. Avdija and Morant led the Blazers with 23 points each, Avdija adding nine assists and Morant going 9 of 13. Holiday had 22 off the bench on 8-of-12 shooting, Lillard scored 21 with four 3s, Robert Williams III had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Camara scored 12 on 4 of 5 from deep. The Blazers missed 15 free throws, going 26 of 41.

Austin Reaves scored 26 for the Lakers on 8-of-13 shooting with seven assists, Mamukelashvili had 17 off the bench and Kessler added 13 points and eight rebounds. The Lakers shot 17 of 43 from 3 and were outscored 56-48 in the paint. Shaedon Sharpe was out for Portland, according to ESPN's injury report.

The Lakers, now 3-1, play the Clippers on Wednesday night. Portland hosts Memphis on Thursday night.