Trail Blazers at Lakers
THE STORY: After falling apart late in back-to-back losses, the Los Angeles Lakers got back to dominating on both ends in a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Ramon Sessions is getting more comfortable in the Lakers’ system and is coming off his best game yet, while Kobe Bryant appears to have shaken off his shooting slump. The Portland Trail Blazers are sliding toward the bottom of the West but won their last game.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, KGW (Trail Blazers), FS West (Lakers)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (22-25): Portland beat the Lakers at home 107-96 as part of its 7-2 start on Jan. 5. Things have steadily gone downhill since, with a 103-92 loss at Los Angeles on Feb. 20 thrown in the mix. The Blazers have dropped nine of their last 13 to fall out of the playoff race but beat Memphis 97-93 on Thursday. Nicolas Batum led the way with 24 points to break out of a slump. The 23-year-old had averaged 10 points in the previous eight games. Portland has not won back-to-back games since Jan. 23 and 24.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (29-18): Los Angeles has a firm grip on the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference and may have let a bit of complacency slip in in losses to the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets. The Lakers dropped late leads in both of those games while Bryant shot a combined 13 for 47 from the floor, including 3 for 13 from beyond the arc. But Los Angeles picked it up under the National TV lights Wednesday, getting 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting from Bryant in a 109-93 road victory over Dallas. Sessions came off the bench again but played 29 minutes and scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while adding nine assists. Los Angeles is 19-3 at home and will play six of its next seven games at Staples Center.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Sessions struggled to eight points and one assist in a loss to Portland when he was still with Cleveland on Jan. 8.
2. The Blazers went 25 for 25 from the free throw line Thursday.
3. The home team has taken each of the last four meetings in the series.