Fresh off sweeping their road trip, the Los Angeles Lakers draw a red-hot Portland Trail Blazers team that’s won six in a row and eight of their last 10. As a result, the Trail Blazers have vaulted up to third place in the Western Conference standings.
“They’ve done an amazing job this year of turning into a defensive team. They get a lot of stops,” Lakers head coach Luke Walton said at Monday’s shootaround. “They’ve always had the offensive firepower and now that they’re committed to playing defense the way that they are, they’re a heck of a team.