Lakers Feel the Charm of Moment

It finally happened for the Lakers, with five days left in February and slightly more room for playoff aspirations.

The Lakers won a third consecutive game for the first time this season, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 86-83, and halting a peculiar streak that made this season’s edition the slowest to win three in a row in franchise history.

The Lakers beat the Utah Jazz before the All-Star break and the Boston Celtics in the first game after the break. Then came Wednesday, the 11th time this season that they had an opportunity to win a third consecutive game.

It happened only after Shareef Abdur-Rahim’s three-point shot at the buzzer hit the front of the rim and bounced away in front of 18,665 at the Rose Garden. Since the Minneapolis Lakers began play in 1948, it had never taken the franchise this long to win three in a row, but the Lakers will take it, their newest version of the three-peat.

“‘48?” Coach Frank Hamblen said. “I was a year old. That is a long time.”

Kobe Bryant had 31 points, Tierre Brown was the team’s second-highest scorer with 11, and the Lakers took care of a few other items of business, winning a road game and the second game in a back-to-back situation, trouble spots so far this season. It was only the second time this season the Lakers won both games in a back-to-back situation.

The Lakers moved within a game of the Memphis Grizzlies for seventh place in the Western Conference. They are now two ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

As Rudy Tomjanovich was asked numerous times before him, Hamblen was asked before the game about the Lakers’ inability to win more than two consecutive games.

“By this time of year, a team that’s in the playoffs should have certainly won more than two in a row,” Hamblen said. “It’s hard for me to fathom that.”

Not as much afterward.

The Laker lead, 13 points at one time, was trimmed to 63-61 after three quarters, but Bryant had 12 fourth-quarter points -- 10 on free throws -- and the Lakers fought off a late Portland rally.

After Brian Grant dunked with 6:18 left, the Lakers led, 76-69. During a timeout, Blazer guard Damon Stoudamire kicked the scorer’s table. Nick Van Exel then spiked his headband onto the court in disgust.

The Lakers kept Portland at a safe distance, Chucky Atkins finding Bryant on a fastbreak for a layup and the chance for a three-point play. Bryant’s free throw gave the Lakers an 83-76 lead with 2:48 left to play.

Portland Coach Maurice Cheeks was called for a technical foul and Bryant made another layup, but an eight-point lead didn’t hold up for the Lakers.

Stoudamire scored five straight points to cut the margin to 84-83 with 21.1 seconds left.

Stoudamire’s off-balance three-point shot with 2.9 seconds left was off the mark, but Van Exel batted the rebound to the top of the key by Van Exel. From there, Abdur-Rahim’s shot was off the mark.

“Finally got that monkey off our back,” Bryant said. “I don’t think anybody’s really jumping for joy.”

Stoudamire had 25 points for the Blazers on nine-of-24 shooting. Van Exel made three of 12 shots and had seven points.

That the Lakers won a road game did not go unnoticed. With 18 of their last 30 games away from Staples Center, it has become a necessity for the Lakers to win on the road if they want to continue to entertain thoughts of playing past their regular-season finale April 20 in Portland.

In the end, the Lakers left behind only three other teams who had failed to win three consecutive games this season -- the New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks.

“That’s gone, now we’ve got to find something else we need to get done as a team,” Lamar Odom said. “It’s a big deal tonight. We needed to get it done. Hopefully we can push it to four or five straight.”