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Editor's note: Corrections in the 6th, 8th and 9th grafs
LeBron James scored 28 points and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers resisted a hard-fought Portland Trail Blazers rally to win 114-110 on Saturday night.
James had seven assists and captured five rebounds for the Lakers, who ended a 16-game losing streak to Portland, beating the Blazers for the first time since 2014. Rajon Rondo scored 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists . for the Lakers.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum each scored 30 points for the Blazers, who nearly came back from a 20-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.
McCollum and Lillard allied 23 points to give Portland a 57-56 lead at half-time, while the Blazers only made 5 of 18 attempts from the back. James had 13 points for the Lakers.
The Lakers dominated Portland 32-16 in the third quarter to take a 88-73 advantage in the final period. Of the three quarters, the Blazers were 6 for 28 out of 3 attempts.
L.A. increased its lead to 95-75 early in the fourth quarter, but Portland narrowed the gap to 99-85 with 6:51 to go. Jusuf Nurkic took a free kick to bring the Blazers to a distance of 101-90 with 4:53 left. After James hit a pair of free throws, Lillard converted consecutive layups and a free throw to attract Portland in 103-95 in 4:01.
Nurkic scored on a lay-up to reduce the Lakers' lead to 103-97 with 3:35 to go. Josh Hart and McCollum of the Lakers exchanged driving breaks, and L.A was 105-99 ahead with 2:36 to go. James then dived to give the Lakers the advantage at 107-99 with 2:18 to play.
The McCollum mat allowed Portland to score 107-101 two minutes from the end. James and McCollum traded baskets and the Lakers led 109-103 in 1:30.
Nurkic made 1 of 2 free throws, but JaVale McGee of the Lakers scored on a lay-up to bring the score to 111-104 with 28 seconds to go. McCollum converted a layup to divide the difference into 111-106 with 25.4 seconds to go. Hart traded a pair of draws, but Meyers Leonard scored on a dunk to bring the Blazers to a distance of 112-108 with 10.6 seconds.
James made a pair of free throws for a 114-108 lead over the Lakers with 9.8 seconds to go. McCollum's two free throws with 2.5 ticks left the score.
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