PORTLAND, Ore. _ The first losing streak of the Los Angeles Lakers' season ended Saturday night with a 128-120 win over Portland.
It ended with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope threes, Kyle Kuzma eurosteps, LeBron James no-look passes and Anthony Davis dunks and blocks.
The Portland Trail Blazers fought valiantly, with 31 points from Damian Lillard and 19 points from Hassan Whiteside, but ultimately dropped their third consecutive game.
Kuzma led the Lakers for a second game in a row. He scored 24 points by making nine of 17 shots, while Davis scored 20 and James added 21 with 16 assists, tying his season high. Caldwell-Pope scored all 13 of his points in the second half, when he made all three three-pointers he attempted.
With the win, the Lakers improved to 25-7 and will play the Dallas Mavericks at home on Sunday.
Davis all but predicted the win before shoot-around Saturday morning.
"I'm pretty sure we'll come out victorious in this game because of the way film session went yesterday and practice," Davis said then. "It was a good one."
He said the Lakers rediscovered their competitive spirit.
They entered that Friday's film session having lost four games in a row. Lakers coach Frank Vogel told his players he was edgy and angry, and he felt that energy from them too. That intensity continued into practice on a day when the season's first bit of drama swirled.
Kuzma's trainer, Clint Parks, had posted some messages on Instagram that were critical of LeBron James in comparison to Kawhi Leonard, whom Parks also trained. Social media buzzed with suggestions of a rift between the two. Kuzma approached James on Friday to distance himself from the comments.
"I just told him that I can't control what another man says," Kuzma said. "Obviously I don't feel that way. Everybody knows that me and LeBron have a great relationship and left it at that."
Said James of Parks: "I've never met the guy, I don't know the guy, I could care less about the guy. Whatever the case may be. I wish him the best."
Kuzma said multiple times Saturday morning that he didn't care about the social media chatter about the incident. On Saturday night, he produced a dominant first half.
Almost as soon as Kuzma checked into the game, James passed him the ball. Kuzma gave it right back to James, who then made the Lakers' only three-pointer of the first quarter.
