Whenever the Los Angeles Lakers come into town, there is always a little something extra in the arena, regardless of whether or not the Lakers are a good squad or not. Every team in the NBA wants to beat the Lakers. The Lakers are from Los Angeles (obviously), they have won a mound of championships and they have this confident aura about them. They somehow get the superstar and somehow convince the superstar to stay, unless you are Dwight Howard. They are like NBA royalty.

Now, the Lakers are entering uncharted territory. The fans or “fans” all over the country have come to expect greatness and excellence from this organization ever since Kobe Bryant put on a Laker uniform. After a couple of tough spots in the mid-90s when Shaquille O’ Neal first signed with the Lakers, the Lakers flipped the switch and started their dynasty starting with that heart-breaking *shudder* (at least for Blazer fans) game 7 in the Western Conference Finals in 2000. They have consistently been great ever since then, only missing the playoffs one year. Now, with Bryant finally getting up there in age and some gambles that did not go their way, the Lakers are staring at an 11-24 record and in need of a rebuild. They are still attempting to get the big star. Rumors have circulated for a couple of years now of Kevin Love or Russell Westbrook going to the Lakers. One big problem, the team has to be appealing. This squad, right now, is definitely not appealing. Who wants to go play with an old Kobe, Jeremy Lin, Jordan Hill, Nick Young and Carlos Boozer? That does not sound like fun at all.

Regardless of all of their issues, Laker fans come out of the woodwork and there is always a little extra juice in the building whenever the Lakers are in town.

That was apparent as the Lakers gave the Blazers a run for their money. Portland eventually escaped with a victory thanks to clutch performances from Portland’s two all-stars and an unlikely player who stepped up. The Blazers beat the Lakers 98-84 Monday night and improve to 27-8 on the season, ahead of their pace last season. They are now 16-3 at home. The Lakers fall to 11-24 and 6-12 on the road.

First off, Bryant and Wesley Johnson would not play due to rest and a hip flexor injury respectively.

This game showed me that the Lakers might actually have some talent underneath all the bad press. Hill is having a sneaky solid year, averaging 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and one block a game. Young still does not pass the ball, but is a solid scoring option off the bench, averaging 14.8 points a game. With Boozer and Lin also coming off the bench, the Lakers have a decent rotation of just solid and/or mediocre players. This team puts Kobe in the mix and you definitely do not have a playoff team, but you have a team that could be interesting on some nights.

Portland witnessed that first hand having to rely on Damian Lillard switching on Lillard time and hard-nosed defense in the fourth quarter to squeak out with a win. In the first half, both teams shot nearly identically from the field. Portland and Los Angeles finished shooting 41% and 40% from the field respectively. Surprisingly, the Lakers played great offensive basketball. They relied on a lot of mid-range jumpers and had a couple of players going (Hill, Wayne Ellington), but there was ball movement and fluidity, something the Blazers seemed to not have in the first half. A lot of slow plays developed and a lot of standing around happened. After watching the Blazers play smoothly in this style under head coach Terry Stotts for a couple of seasons now, it is weird to watch this team just stagnate on the offensive end. That is just not what Portland does as a philosophy. Portland missed a lot of shots they normally make. LaMarcus Aldridge finished with good numbers, but his shooting percentage was lower. He missed a lot of his fadeaway jumpers as well as not finishing two easy lay-ups at the basket. Furthermore, the slow offense was apparent in the third quarter. The Lakers shot 52% from the field and recorded two extra assists than Portland. Portland shot only 37%, but in my opinion, there was not enough ball movement and not enough movement in general. A lot of players waited for something to happen and for some reason stopped driving to the basket. There was a lot of times where Portland, on five or six straight offensive possessions, would shoot a three-pointer or a really long two. Now, the Lakers do have some rim protection, but it is not like Howard or Pau Gasol are roaming down there anymore.

In the fourth quarter, however, Portland decided that the paint was actually an option. Furthermore, Lillard decided to flip the switch like he has been doing in the past month. In the first three quarters, he scored 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting, 1-for-3 from three. In the fourth quarter alone, he finished with 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting, 3-for-5 from three. Lillard got into one of those zones again where he hits a couple of threes and then gets locked in. After swishing two three-pointers, one being a double-clutched attempt at the top of the key, Lillard decided to drive to the hoop. Lillard’s ability to make shots in traffic and at the bucket has been so impressive to watch this year. That was one of the knocks on his game as he did not finish well enough. Now, that is no longer an issue. In about a three minute sequence in the fourth quarter, Lillard and Aldridge combined to score 15 points.

The fourth quarter success really boiled down to hustle. The Blazers looked lethargic and slow all game long. At the end of the third quarter, they were getting out-rebounded 39-31. In the fourth quarter, they out-rebounded the Lakers 14-10. A little bit better.  I should mention that Chris Kaman got the start at center in place of Robin Lopez and Joel Freeland, but seemed to fall off the map after about 25 minutes of play. He had a solid outing grabbing 11 rebounds, but looked exhausted as he kept playing. Furthermore, teams are starting scout his dribbling patterns. Fans may have noticed that he likes to dribble a little bit away from his body. By a little bit away, I mean in Canada. It seems like he is extremely easy to pickpocket and steal from. That happened a couple of times in this game.

I mentioned above an unlikely player that stepped up. Meyers Leonard stepped out and, in all his glory, actually played a great game. The stretch four position is going to be the position that he plays if he wants to succeed in this league, at least for right now. Having him stand out on the three-point line instead of playing like a rough center down in the paint has produced better results. He finished with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting, 3-for-4 from three with 12 rebounds. Only three players scored in the fourth quarter, Lillard, Aldridge and Leonard. Leonard’s biggest contribution, besides stretching the floor, was a surprising four-point play. Standing in the left corner, he forced a shot up as he was fouled and going out of bounds. Somehow, the ball went in and seemed to spark the momentum and rally for Portland. Leonard has had more negative games than positive ones, but is this the game that starts to get the Leonard machine rolling? With Lopez and Freeland out, this is definitely his opportunity.

A very scary moment for Trail Blazer fans happened early on in this game. Under four minutes into the game, Wesley Matthews starting driving against Ellington. Matthews appeared to have stepped on Ellington’s foot as Matthews’ knee buckled instantly and forcing him downward. Matthews had to be helped off the court, yet he was able to bend his knee shortly after the injury occurred. Six minutes later, Matthews would walk back onto the court and get back into the game. While he looked to be hampered by his foot, he was able to swish a three-pointer and give the Blazers a morale boost. A scary situation considering that when player’s knees just buckle or get twisted, that usually means something more serious has occurred (tear, ACL, etc). The doctors apparently examined him and found no damage or injury. Fortunately, for the Blazers, Matthews seems to be fine albeit just a little hobbled. Reports are calling it a hyper-extended knee.

The Blazers will have a couple of days off before taking on the Miami Heat in their sixth game of this seven-game homestand. This will be the first meeting between these two teams and it is not exactly the mammoth of a game it was last year. The Heat still have Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade who are keeping a balance, however, due to injuries and the fact that most of their squad either switched over to Cleveland or is getting old, the Heat are not exactly the cream of the crop anymore. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. PST at the Moda Center on Thursday night. Stay tuned!