It was the game that got away. The Los Angeles Lakers delivered with stifling defense and clutch offense late to rally past the Portland Trail Blazers, 84-80. The loss, which was made worse due to the ankle injury suffered by center Marcus Camby, gave the rival Lakers the season-series between the two teams, just the second time they have accomplished the feat in the past 19 years.

Nicolas Batum heats up early for Blazers

Portland's first quarter wasn't pretty. They missed 14 of their 23 shots and trailed by seven. Yet, the reason the deficit wasn't bigger was the play of Batum. He had 11 early points on five assisted field goals, scoring inside and out with an extremely aggressive mindset.
no comments

In a battle of two teams that have won 12 of their past 17 games, the Portland Trail Blazers prevailed with an attack that was too much for the impressive Philadelphia 76ers to handle, compiling their 40th win of the season, 110-101.

Wesley Matthews wears his Three Goggles throughout the first half for efficient Blazers

During a recent practice head coach Nate McMillan showed his team how the "Three Goggles" have affected their defense. He didn't outlaw them, however, so Matthews, in particular, continued to wear them. He hit five three-pointers in the first half, all off assists and each from a different spot on the court. He was feeling it, parked beyond the line and firing whenever the opportunity presented itself.

no comments

Since the news broke that the Timbers were going to be promoted to the MLS, it feels as though it’s taken ages to finally arrive at this moment: opening day.

While the season officially kicked off on Tuesday night with the Los Angeles Galaxy's defeat of the Seattle Sounders, today will mark the highly anticipated MLS debut for Portland.

The players themselves are just as excited as the fans for the season to get underway:

“I think that through our preseason we’ve been giving it our all and I think it’s time for us to perform on the big stage,” Timbers defender Rodney Wallace said. "We’ve been looking forward to this game for quite a bit now, so we’re going to be ready and pumped.”

Just minutes after Byron Scott confessed the Cleveland Cavaliers are "soft mentally", Baron Davis explained he is playing with a heavy heart right now.

How can you blame him.

It's been one week since Davis left the Cavs and returned to Los Angeles to be with his family following the passing of his grandmother, Lela "Madea" Nicholson. Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, Nicholson raised Davis and help prevent the now veteran point guard from getting involved in the gang-life that surrounded him as a kid.

This has been one loss Davis just can't seem to shake right now.

Oregon's basketball season isn’t over yet as the Ducks lean on an outstanding night from the free throw line to beat the Weber State Wildcats 68-59 at Matthew Knight Arena on Wednesday night.

With the win, Oregon (17-17) moves on  to the second round of the College Basketball Invitational and face Duquesne in the quarterfinals on Monday. 

Joevan Catron scored 24 and nabbed 12 rebound leading the Ducks to victory. While his game certainly gave Oregon life, his emotional leadership gave Dana Altman and the Ducks a decided edge through out the game.