PORTLAND, Ore. _ On a cloudy Saturday night in northwest Oregon, the rarest of things happened.
The Los Angeles Lakers won a game in Portland.
It had been exactly four years and eight months since they had beat the Trail Blazers on the road. They'd lost at Portland 16 times in a row. They'd lost nail-biters more than once, falling victim to the heroics of Damian Lillard.
But on Saturday, the Lakers ended the drought. They won 114-110, pushing ahead during a third quarter in which they outscored Portland by 16. Despite taking a 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers allowed the Trail Blazers to threaten as they committed seven of their 20 turnovers during the final period.
Still, the Lakers (4-5) held on to avenge a season-opening loss here and string together wins for the second time.
"It feels good, knowing we haven't beaten this team in 16 attempts. ... It feels good knowing that our team is getting better, that we just had a really good road win," coach Luke Walton said. "That the group came together. Those are the things that are feeling good. That's where my focus is, that's where it will always be."
LeBron James led the Lakers with 28 points while Portland's guards did most of the Trail Blazers' scoring. Lillard and C.J. McCollum each scored 30 points. They combined for 25 points in the fourth quarter.
"This is one of the hardest places to play," Lakers guard Josh Hart said. "When they start making shots it's hard to hear each other, hard to communicate."
The Lakers' second unit was particularly effective. All of the players who came off the bench had positive plus/minus ratings in double digits. They helped the team overcome a sloppy start and a sloppy finish.
Rajon Rondo scored 17 points off the bench and added 10 rebounds and six assists. The Lakers were plus-28 with Rondo on the floor.
"He got us good shots," Walton said. "We want to play fast. ... I thought he orchestrated a beautiful game tonight. He always has the freedom to call what he wants and what he sees. He just showed why he has been one of the elite point guards in this league for a lot of years."
Said James: "Everything, he did everything. Rebounding. Defensive rebounding. He got his shots, he got other people involved. He's a point of attack on both sides of the floor."
The win was the Lakers' second consecutive since a tense meeting in which team President Magic Johnson yelled at Walton about his displeasure over the direction of the offense. On Wednesday, the day after the meeting, the Lakers beat Dallas.
Saturday's game bore some similarities to that game. On Wednesday, the Lakers led by 14 late in the fourth quarter and couldn't keep a Dallas run from making the game close.
"We would love to be able to go out and blow them away but we gotta learn what can we run down the stretch when it's close," James said.
"Defensively, who's gonna be the defensive lineups. We're still mishmashing and things of that nature. We've been in positions where we've lost this game. This is the second time we've been in this position and won."
A win in Portland carries more weight. The Trail Blazers are 6-3 and were the third-best team in the West last season.
"We defended as close to 48 minutes as we've done all year," James said. "Especially in a hostile building like this. We haven't had much success as a franchise here in a long time or against this team, period, either home or away. It's a good win."
