Trail Blazers vs Lakers Saturday, 02/06/10 AT 07:00PM

Trail Blazers suffer rare home loss against Lakers

02/06/10

  1. Written by: Max Mandel

    Even with both Brandon Roy and Kobe Bryant on the sidelines, there was still a sense of excitement throughout the Rose Garden with the Portland Trail Blazers (30-23) and the Los Angeles Lakers (39-13) matching up. However, after winning nine consecutive meetings in this series at the Rose Garden, the Trail Blazers couldn't overcome a poor second half performance in the 99-82 loss.

    These teams have now split the first two match ups this season, with both games being played in Portland. With the win, the Lakers ended a nine-game road losing streak in this series, which was their longest road losing streak against any team in the past fifteen years. The season series will end on April 11th, when the Trail Blazers pay a visit to the Staples Center.

    Despite losing Andrew Bynum to an injury in the first half, the Lakers completely controlled the glass on both ends of the court. The Trail Blazers were held to a franchise-low two offensive rebounds, and were out-rebounded 47-30 over the course of the game. After the loss, Trail Blazers head coach explained the difficulty of trying to match up with such a long and athletic front court.

    "Their defense was good. They limited us to only one shot," McMillan said of the Lakers. "They totally controlled the boards. Tonight they executed in the half court, sharing the ball, and if we don't get fastbreak points or second opportunities, it's going to be hard to beat this team."

    Although he wasn't able to push the tempo very often, Andre Miller did an excellent job playing within the flow of the offense. While he is more comfortable playing in the open court, Miller routinely found good looks in the half court offense, scoring 14 points on 5-8 shooting. Miller also did a nice job of attacking the paint and kicking out to open shooters, dishing out six assists.

    While he wasn't able to replicate the success he had against the Spurs, LaMarcus Aldridge still managed to put together a productive performance against a very skilled front court. Aldridge scored a team-high 16 points on 7-16 shooting and grabbed five boards in the loss. With this game behind him, Aldridge emphasized the importance of gaining momentum heading into the All-Star break.

    "That's our goal- to try and get these next two. Just try to carry some momentum into the All-Star break strong and try to fight for position. The West (Western Conference) is pretty close right now."

    Dante Cunningham and Juwan Howard both provided nice contributions to compliment Aldridge in the front court. Cunningham, who has firmly entrenched himself in the rotation, scored eight points and grabbed five boards in 21 minutes of action. Howard played with remarkably efficiency on the offensive end, scoring 10 points on 5-7 shooting.

    The Lakers were led by the versatility of Lamar Odom. Odom pulled down 14 of his career-high 22 rebounds in the second half, while also scoring 10 points and dishing out six assists. Ron Artest provided a nice offensive boost in the absence of Bryant, scoring 21 points on 9-12 shooting. Shannon Brown came off the bench to chip in 19 points.

    Portland will have a couple days to rest before they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. Opening tip is scheduled for 7:00 PST.
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