January 5th, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
The third quarter was what made all the difference in Sunday’s game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center; a huge 15-3 run at the 2:12 mark of the period helped Los Angeles easily defeat Portland 100-86; the win was the Lakers sixth straight and 15th consecutive home victory.
Portland led after one quarter 25-19 as they caused 9 Los Angeles turnovers – which was one more than they committed in their game against the Utah Jazz last Friday; the Lakers finally captured the lead at 51-50 on a pair of free throws by Trevor Ariza with 52.5 seconds left in the half – a lead they would take into the third quarter.
Los Angeles would pull away from the Trail Blazers as they went on a 15-3 run which increased their four-point lead to 75-59 with 2:12 remaining in the third period; Portland wouldn’t recover from the Lakers’ run. Kobe Bryant led all Los Angeles scorers with 26 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while Pau Gasol added 19 with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal; Vladimir Radmanovic, from off the bench, poured in 16 with 4 rebounds.
Portland was led by LaMarcus Aldridge with 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot while Nicolas Batum added 17 (including three 3-pointers) with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal. Los Angeles (27-5) plays again on Tuesday when they host the New Orleans Hornets while Portland (20-14) returns home to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
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Los Angeles Lakers forever! They are the best all time NBA team!