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Lakers venture out to Portland

Feb 11, 2015 - 3:12 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Lakers will try to halt a five-game losing streak Wednesday night, but it won't be easy as they travel to the Moda Center for a date with the Portland Trail Blazers.

LA has one victory in its last 14 tries, a home win over the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 29. The Lakers have lost 10 straight on the road, a skid that began with a four-point loss in Portland on Jan. 5.

The Lakers' most recent setback came Tuesday at home in a 106-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets, a team that was in the midst of a six-game slide of their own.

Carlos Boozer finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Wayne Ellington deposited 18 points, while Wesley Johnson and Nick Young added 12 points apiece off the bench.

The Lakers couldn't contain Ty Lawson, who scored 32 points and handed out 16 assists. Lawson had 16 of those 32 in the fourth quarter alone.

"He hit a lot of shots and we have to get the ball out of his hands when he gets it going," Lakers guard Jeremy Lin said of Lawson. "As a team, we weren't able to get stops down the stretch."

The Lakers allowed the Nuggets to shoot 54.4 percent from the field and that included a dismal 4-for-16 from long range. Denver only committed seven turnovers in the win.

The Blazers have won three of their last four and three straight at home.

On Sunday, Portland picked up a huge road victory with a 109-98 win over the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points and Damian Lillard contributed 23 to lead the Blazers. Both players are headed to New York for the All-Star game as reserves. Lillard, a controversial snub when the team was announced, was added when Clippers' forward Blake Griffin went down with an elbow injury.

C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard each netted 12 points for the Blazers, who bounced back from an overtime loss at Dallas on Saturday to post this impressive win.

"Well especially on the heels of last night's game, I thought this was a real gritty win for us," said Portland coach Terry Stotts.

The Blazers took a double-digit lead late in the first half and Houston didn't make it close again until the third quarter. Houston drew even at 79-79, but Leonard scored nine points as part of an 11-2 run.

A Donatas Motiejunas dunk brought the Rockets within four with under two minutes left, but Nicolas Batum fired in a trey that gave the visitors a 103-96 lead with 1:26 remaining to seal it.

The Blazers, who attempted the same number of free throws as Houston's James Harden, shot 52.6 percent from the floor, limiting Houston to 37.8 percent shooting. Portland outscored Houston, 46-30, in the paint.

The Blazers took the first two encounters this season and three in a row in this series with the Lakers. The squads have split the last eight meetings in the great northwest.