advertisement

Lillard leads Blazers to 124-112 win over Lakers

LOS ANGELES - Damian Lillard scored 34 points, LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points and 15 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 124-112 Tuesday night.

The Blazers' fourth straight victory, coupled with Houston's loss at Brooklyn, moved Portland within 1½ games of the Rockets for fourth place in the Western Conference and homecourt advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. The Rockets have three games in hand.

Nick Young, the fifth and last player off the Los Angeles bench, made his first eight shots and finished 15 for 26 with a season-high 40 points. But it wasn't enough to prevent the Lakers' 10th defeat in 14 games. They slipped to 25-49 - the most losses by the club since finishing 33-49 in 1993-94. The franchise hasn't lost 50 games in a season since 1974-75 (30-52).

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.