Lakers Get the Best of the Worst

The Lakers edged closer to the postseason, a victory away from a playoff berth after finally figuring out how to beat the big (not really), bad (pretty much) Portland Trail Blazers.

The league’s worst team had been an embarrassing source of frustration for the Lakers this season, winning two of three against them before the Lakers prevailed, 110-99, Friday at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant had 50 points and broke another of Elgin Baylor’s franchise records, and Lamar Odom pulled off a second consecutive triple-double: 16 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.

It wasn’t easy -- it never was against Portland this season, for whatever reason -- but the Lakers managed to regain their composure after losing most of a 21-point lead and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Sacramento. The Lakers need to win one of their final two games, or a loss by Utah in one of its final three games, to clinch a playoff berth.

After finishing 2-19 down the stretch last season, the Lakers couldn’t ask for a better burst in the final month this season. They won for the ninth time in 12 games and moved nine victories ahead of last season’s woeful 34-48 mark.

“We still have to win another one, I guess,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “It felt like this team has got that momentum, and they know the way to do it.”

Bryant made 17 of 28 shots and passed the 2,719 points Baylor scored in 1962-63. Bryant, who now has 2,754 points this season, has also broken Baylor’s franchise records for 40-point games in a season (now 26) and, more famously, points in a game (81).

“I steal a lot of his moves,” Bryant said. “There was a tape I used to watch over and over. I just kept studying his first step over and over. I was 6 years old.”

Bryant was a steadying force in the final quarter as the Lakers shook off the Blazers, who closed within 88-86 on Martell Webster’s jump shot with 7:38 to play. Bryant had 18 points in the fourth quarter, making six of seven shots and five of six free throws.

There was also a moment of humor along the way: Jackson yelled sarcastically after Bryant took a quick shot in a late possession.

“I was on his case for taking a shot early,” Jackson said. “But my staff told me that was his 50th point.”

The Lakers can’t spend much time celebrating their victory over the Trail Blazers, who lost for the 16th time in 17 games and fell to a league-worst 21-58.

The Phoenix Suns, possible first-round Laker opponents, come to Staples Center on Sunday with a 7-0 record against the Lakers over the last two seasons.

The Lakers have lost to the Suns, badly, in almost every meeting since the Shaquille O’Neal trade, including a 107-96 setback last week that moved the Suns’ average margin of victory over the Lakers to 11.3 points since O’Neal changed coasts.

The Lakers had won or tied the four-game season series with the Suns nine consecutive times until being swept last season, and it has been a rocky, all-uphill climb since then.

“That’s a matchup that’s most likely going to happen” in the playoffs, Odom said. “They’ve got a funny lineup and we’ve had problems matching up with them. Sunday will be a good test for our team.”

In its own weird way, Friday’s game against the Trail Blazers was also a test.

The Lakers and Atlanta Hawks were the only teams with losing records against Portland, the Lakers inexplicably unable to win either game up there this season.

The Lakers looked as if they had finally solved the Blazers, taking a 44-23 lead, but they clung to a 50-45 halftime edge after making only six of 25 shots in the second quarter.

Bryant was there to rescue them in the end, as was Odom, who became the first Laker since Bryant to log triple-doubles in consecutive games. Odom had 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists Wednesday against Golden State.

“He’s been playing that way the last month and a half, two months,” Bryant said. “Everybody knew he had this kind of potential.”