The Los Angeles Lakers have been defeated by the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center on Sunday. Portland handed a double-digit loss to the home sided team 97-81. Portland, who had an eight-point lead at halftime, won the third quarter 37-24 to open up a 21 point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. That concluded the game as the Trail Blazers never looked back and clinched the win. The season-series between the two now stands at 4-0 for Portland over the L.A. team.
D'Angelo Russell and Tyler Ennis stood out for L.A.
The Los Angeles Lakers had a tough day on the offensive end as the team did score only 81 points in the game.
22 of those 81 points were scored by guard D'Angelo Russell, who shot 8-of-19 from the field against the Portland Trail Blazers. 21-year-old Russell made all five of his free-throw attempts as well in 33 minutes of action given by Lakers coach Luke Walton.
Tyler Ennis provided some good minutes off the bench as the Canadian had an all-around performance. Ennis, who came to L.A. at this year's NBA trade deadline, put down in the basket six of his 15 attempts from the field and made one of his two free-throws to score 14 points. He as well had five assists to go along with three rebounds and four steals in 26 minutes spent on the floor.
The Lakers remain the worst team in the Western Conference
The Los Angeles Lakers have fallen to a 21-52 record on the season after their latest loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The L.A. team holds the last place in the Western Conference and Pacific Division, and are the second-worst team in the whole NBA -- behind the Brooklyn Nets (16-57). The Lakers have a good chance of having a top-3 pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
Next up the Washington Wizards
The Los Angeles Lakers remain home as they are set to take on the Washington Wizards on Tuesday at Staples Center.
The Lakers' focus remains on improving and developing, while the Wizards are trying to secure a good spot in the Eastern Conference before the Playoffs. The two teams met once this season -- Washington handed an eight-point loss at home to the team from L.A.
