WATCH: Lebron James & Damian Lillard Trade Dunks To Start Off The NBA Season

It’s officially a new era of Showtime in Los Angeles and Lebron James and Damian Lillard’s dunk exchange early in their season opener is a testament to what basketball fans everywhere should be expecting from both ball clubs.

Lebron James has started things off hot in his official Lakers debut, making his first basket in the purple-and-gold a breakaway dunk that sent the Portland crowd into an (un)expected irruption. But for those of you expecting things to be easy taking for the Lake Show, guess again. As shown in the clip above, the slept on Damian Lillard returned with some firepower of his own with a vicious slam dunk of his own.

Through their first matchup this season, Lillard logged a total of 35 minutes for 28 points on 9-21 shooting from the field. As for Lebron James, he was able to register 26 points on 9-16 shots from the hardwood in 37 minutes of play in his Los Angeles Lakers debut.

Can Damian Lillard Silence His Critics Once Again?

It’s no secret that Damian Lillard has been getting the short end of the stick when it comes to NBA All-Star honors. Especially after being drafted sixth overall in the 2012 NBA Draft and unanimously winning the Rookie of the Year during his freshman stint in the league. Fortunately, Lillard has been able to rack up three NBA All-Star honors in 2013, 2014, and last year, 2018.

Lillard has been able to average impressive stats of 23.1 points per game on 43.2% shooting while dishing 6.1 assists per game throughout his seven-year career. With his explosive play early in the 2018-19 NBA season, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be considered amongst the elite in a heavily stacked point guard professional league. Keep an eye out for the potential Hall-of-Famer as the season progresses.

The Portland Trailblazers Get The Last Laugh

Even though both the Lakers and the Blazers started off with high-fly acrobatics, the Blazers ultimately got the last laugh. Despite being able to keep up with the sharp-shooting Blazers in the first half, the small-ball line up of the third quarter didn’t prove itself to be effective against the Blazers. Even though, the Lakers maintained their high energy, quick style of play throughout all four quarters, the Blazers won the season opener against the Lebron-led Lakers, 128-119.

READ NEXTL.A. Lakers Roster & Starting Lineup With LeBron James for 2018-19