As the NBA lockout plods steadily along with no resolution, many basketball players are turning to fun exhibition games in an attempt to keep from being idle. On Sunday night, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Blake headed to Portland to play in LaMarcus Aldridge's "Rip City Classic."
The game seemed to be a fun time for the players and fans. The contest began with Aldridge thanking everyone for coming and picked fans out of the crowd to act as "coaches" for the game.
Much like Saturday night's exhibition game in the Bay Area, it ended as a high-scoring affair, but that's pretty much to be expected. Blake played on the away team along with teammates TJ Ford, Kevin Durant, Terrence Williams, Chris Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, Nate Robinson, Jeff Pendergraph, James Harden and Armon Johnson, but unfortunately ended up on the losing side of the 164-157 affair.
The home team boasted just as much star power, as it consisted of Aldridge, Jamal Crawford, Wesley Matthews, Josh Howard, Spencer Hawes and Craig Winder . Durant was the scoring champ for the night, finishing with 47 points and nine rebounds. Blake managed to sink a few threes and feed Durant at least one alley-oop.
Lots of alley-oops and dunks in this one, according to Sean Meagher of OregonLive.com. It certainly looks like the players in these recent exhibition games are having a blast getting to play some ball in front of anyone right now, and certainly it's great for the fans to cheer on some stars.
We can't cheer for any NBA games right now, but you can always cheer on your fellow Lakers fans at Silver Screen And Roll.