The Los Angeles Lakers (14-15) will look to rebound from a disappointing loss when they host the Portland Trail Blazers (14-13) on Friday night at the Staples Center. Although the Lakers are seemingly on a track to do better things, the Trail Blazers have been playing fairly consistent as of late.

Nonetheless, Portland will look to avoid its 10th defeat in its last 11 contests on Los Angeles' court.

Prior to Wednesday's loss to the Nuggets, the Lakers won a season-high five straight games. Although Kobe Bryant racked up 40 points, Los Angeles still couldn't put a stop to Denver's offense in the 126-114 loss.

"It just seemed like we were a step slow. It just seemed like we had a wheel stuck in the mud. We played old. It was like we were in a lower gear all night. It's a little bit more alarming now because of the way we started the season," Bryant told ESPN.

The Lakers allowed its highest point total of the season, but did play a majority of the second half without the services of Dwight Howard, who was ejected for a flagrant foul 2. To top it off, Los Angeles was outperformed 58-38 in the paint and surrendered 25 second-chance points on 20 offensive boards.

The Lakers will now focus on the Trail Blazers, which have lost four straight and 18 of 21 away from home in the series since 2001. However, Portland did prevail by a margin of 116-106 in its season opener versus Los Angeles even though Bryant had 30 points and Howard compiled a season-high 33.

CLICK HERE to watch the Los Angeles Lakers face off against the Portland Trail Blazers via free live stream. Coverage of the game is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. PST on Friday, Dec. 28.

Tags
NBA, Los angeles lakers