James stars as Lakers end losing streak to Blazers
LeBron James scored 28 points, and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers withstood a furious rally by the Portland Trail Blazers to win 114-110 yesterday morning (Singapore time).
James handed out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds for the Lakers, who ended a 16-game losing streak against Portland, beating the Blazers for the first time since 2014.
Rajon Rondo came off the bench to contribute 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum each scored 30 points for the Blazers, who nearly came back from a 20-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.
McCollum and Lillard combined for 23 points to give Portland a 57-56 lead at the half, despite the Blazers making only five of 18 attempts from beyond the arc. James had 13 points for the Lakers.
The Lakers outscored Portland 32-16 in the third quarter to take an 88-73 advantage into the final period. Through three quarters, the Blazers were six for 28 on three-point attempts.
Meanwhile, James says he knows that people are talking about the reported tension between Lakers team president Magic Johnson and coach Luke Walton.
But James doesn't want to hear it. He says he is focused on blocking out the noise and winning as many games as possible in his first season in Los Angeles.
"It doesn't bother me at all because I don't pay attention to it, I don't listen to it," James said on Saturday in comments published by ESPN before the Lakers played the Trail Blazers.
"It actually never even gets to me really, so it's not a big deal for us.
"We need to figure out how we can string together some great games or even good games and bring our win total from where it is now. Because that's the business we're in.
"That's the only thing we want to do. We want to be as good a team as we can be and win ball games."
The Lakers started the season 3-5, and a recent two-game skid reportedly prompted Johnson to chide Walton for the team's performance.
The tense meeting highlighted Walton's tenuous job security and showed the need for the Lakers to find success soon in order to avoid changes, ESPN reported.
James, 33, has averaged 27.8 points and 8.6 rebounds in his first eight games with the Lakers.
"We're still in the real early stages," James said. "But we are much more of a unit today than we were two weeks ago." - REUTERS
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