Originally Posted on BustaBucket.Com

If there was one positive thing to take away from tonight's loss against the Lakers at the Rose Garden (yes, you read that right), it is that Kobe Bryant didn't actually play; Kobe Bryant still hasn't won in the Rose Garden.For the first time since February of 2005, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden in a 99-82 blowout.Led by Ron Artest (21 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists ) and Lamar Odom (22 rebounds), the Lakers effectively shutdown the Blazers in every category, capitalizing on the Blazer's poor interior defense, ending up with 48 points in the paint to Portland's 22 . On defense the Lakers held Portland to 43.7% shooting and 27.8% from the 3 point line (Thank you Martel Webster).Los Angeles wasted no time establishing their bigs Pau Gasol (13 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists) and Andrew Bynum (10 minutes and 3 points) inside, meaning to attack the short handed front line of the Blazers. The strategy enabled the Lakers to effectively draw the defense and allow for [insert Laker] to make the open outside shot. Exploiting seemingly every defensive matchup on offense, the Lakers continuously went inside to Gasol. This proved far too much for Aldridge and Howard to handle, as Gasol was consistently able to establish early and deep position, often times stepping in for a lay-in or cutting through the defense on a pick and roll for the easy two.The Blazers countered by getting the ball in to LaMarcus Aldridge early. Aldridge ended up with 16 points, 12 of them coming in the first quarter. The Blazers began the game on fire from the field, playing aggressive defense, and battling on the boards. The most exciting highlight of the first half came when Laker Andrew Bynum missed a layup, got his own rebound, then was blocked by Jeff Pendergraph when he attempted to shoot it again.The game remained competitive until the last two minutes of the second quarter, during which the Blazers allowed the Lakers a 13- 4 run. Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher each got easy buckets and Ron Artest hit two consecutive threes. After a timeout, the Lakers inbounded the ball with 2.9 seconds left in the half; Artest caught the inbounds pass, took two dribbles and drained a 35 foot 3 pointer at the halftime buzzer right in defender Martell Webster's face. From there, the Lakers never looked back, coming out in the third quarter shooting lights out and restricting any form of Blazer offensive momentum.By the time the fourth quarter began, the Rose Garden faithful began to file out, as the Lakers had a double digit lead. Everything McMillan tried did not work, no shots went down, Steve Blake's threes resembled those which he took at the beginning of the season and the defense lacked effort and heart. The Blazers fell apart on every level,playing like a team adrift without its leader.As a team the Lakers shot 48.8% from the field and 42.1% from the three point line.Derek Fisher provided the spark from behind the 3 point line, shooting 50% and finishing with 14 points overall. Leading the bench in scoring was Shannon Brown, who had 21 points. Bynum only played 10 minutes and provided near-to-nothing with 3 points. The Lakers did not miss Bynum however, as Odom contributed 10 points and Gasol finished with 13.LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers for the Blazers with 16 points, while Andre Miller contributed 14. Jerryd Bayless, starting for Brandon Roy (Hamstring), had 13 points but struggled mightily defense ( as did the rest of the Blazer team).The Blazers take on the streaking "Thunder" on Tuesday at the Rose Garden; a dangerous opponent for a team without it's All Star and effectively running on fumes. Let us hope the Blazers can pull together and finish out strong before the all star break, as a win tonight would have provided an emotional boost the team sorely needs as it limps across the first half finish line, barely maintaining its place among Western Conference playoff contenders.Box Score More Photos from Blazersedge.com. Sophia Brugato | Twitter: @Sophiabiabia | s.brugato(at)gmail(dot)com

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• trailblazers