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Bryant, Lakers seek ninth consecutive win

Feb 26, 2008 - 2:56 PM Portland (29-27) at LA Lakers (39-17) 10:30 pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are riding high.

Bryant hopes to guide the red-hot Lakers to their ninth straight victory when the slumping Portland Trail Blazers come calling on Tuesday.

Despite being ejected in the third quarter, Bryant collected 21 points and 10 assists in Sunday's convincing 111-91 triumph over the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Lakers are on their longest winning streak since rolling off 11 straight near the end of the 2003-04 - their last trip to the NBA Finals.

While Los Angeles is enjoying great success, Portland has been on a downward spiral of late.

The Trail Blazers suffered their seventh loss in eight tries with Sunday's 112-102 loss against the Boston Celtics despite owning a 17-point lead at one stage.

Midway through the first half, Blazers All-Star Brandon Roy tweaked his already sore right ankle then re-aggravated it in the third which will cause him to miss at least two games.

"I saw (Roy) limping early in the game and we were trying to get Paul (isolated) to try and take advantage of him," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "You could see he wasn't himself. That clearly hurts Portland. He's not just their scorer, he's their point guard. He does everything. That hurt them, no doubt about it."