Lakers Rally Against the Trailblazers to Win 9 Straight

The big story of the night wasn't that the Lakers 9 game winning streak or how Kobe and company are still #1 in the Western Conference, but how good the Portland Trailblazers will be in the years to come.

Arguably the Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the NBA right now, but the way the Trailblazers were playing on Tuesday night at the Staples Center, you would have thought that they were right up there on top of the West as well.

Granted the Blazers have a few years ahead of them before they become one of the NBA's elite, but one thing is for sure, they will be a tough team to compete with down the road lead by All Star Brandon Roy who sat out this game with a sprained right ankle that he injured against the Boston Celtics last Sunday.

This game was back and forth almost all game long with some surprisingly good performances from future All Stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Travis Outlaw who looked solid picking up the slack for the injured Roy scoring a combined 42 points.

The Lakers looked the worst they have been since the Gasol trade in the first half of this game, getting out rebounded and just out played on both sides of the floor, but were able to rally together in the second half to pull out a 96-83 win for their ninth straight victory and an impressive record of 40-17.

Kobe scored a game high 30 points and an unusual 9 boards, Gasol added 15 and ripped down 10, but the best Lakers performance of the night had to be Jordan Farmar career high tying performance on 21 points, 12 of which came from deep by shooting 4 for 5 from beyond the arc.

NEXT LAKERS GAME: Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers Thurs, Feb. 28th 7:30pm PST