Against a dangerous offensive team, the Lakers played well defensively for much of the game.
Their problem was that while the Trail Blazers struggled to score, the Lakers did too. And though the Lakers never got going, Portland did.
Here are five takeaways from Sunday’s game.
1. The end result was actually good for both teams. Portland drew even with Denver for the eighth playoff spot. The Lakers remained half a game worse than the Phoenix Suns, record-wise, while Brooklyn earned its 16th win of the season. It’s possible, though unlikely at this point, that Brooklyn could catch the Lakers in the standings.