Portland

The Lakers (41-37) visit the Portland Trail Blazers (33-44) on Wednesday night in what is their final chance to win on back-to-back nights in 16 tries. With the Utah Jazz losing on Tuesday, the Lakers will make the playoffs if they win their remaining four games, starting with the Blazers. Portland has lost eight straight. They're out of the playoffs and struggling with injuries that might keep Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and J.J. Hickson out of the lineup. Steve Nash is doubtful for L.A. It was in Portland, on the second day of the season, where Nash initially fractured his leg -- knocking him out for months.

When: 7. Where: Rose Garden, Portland, Ore. On the air: TV: TWC SportsNet, TWC Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 41-37, Trail Blazers 33-44. Record vs. Trail Blazers: 2-1. Update: Portland is eliminated from playoff contention and has lost eight consecutive games, including its last five at home. All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge recently returned from a four-game absence because of an ankle injury, but Portland still lost to Houston and Dallas. Point guard Damian Lillard, the leading candidate for NBA rookie of the year, is averaging 18.8 points and 6.5 assists.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Kobe Bryant pumped his fist as he raced down the court in the final minutes, allowing himself a moment to celebrate a performance that was implausible even by his standards. His Lakers teammates extended high-fives on the way to the timeout huddle, about the only way Bryant was leaving the court in a game his team had to have. Bryant did plenty besides score during the Lakers' 113-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at the Rose Garden, his season-high 47 points accompanied by eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals while playing all 48 minutes.

  PORTLAND, Ore. - If you had to trace the arc of Steve Nash's season of disappointment, you would start here. His tenure as a Laker wasn't even a game and a half old when Portland's Damian Lillard kneed the veteran point guard in the left leg on Halloween night, giving Nash's teammates a major scare. Nash was expected to miss only about a week because of a small fracture in his left leg but in fact sat out nearly two months after developing nerve damage. It was emblematic of a season of unforeseen complications that preceded Nash's return to the Rose Garden on Wednesday night.

Lakers 113, Trail Blazers 106 (final) The Lakers finally won on consecutive nights after failing 15 previous times this season, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 113-106, on Wednesday night at the Rose Garden. The Lakers came back from multiple double-digit deficits to earn the win. Kobe Bryant scored 47 points on 14-of-27 shooting, making all 18 free throws. He also had eight rebounds, five assists, four blocked shots and three steals. Rookie Damian Lillard was a powerhouse for the Blazers, scoring 38 points on 12-of-25 shooting with nine assists and three steals.

Join Lakers Now blogger Eric Pincus at 1 p.m. Tuesday to chat about the Lakers and their chances to make the playoffs as they chase the Utah Jazz. With five games to go, will the Lakers win out?  Will Utah lose another game to open the door? The Lakers lost a crucial battle on Sunday, getting swept by the Clippers. They're now half a game behind the Jazz in the standings, and Utah owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. The challenge starts at Staples Center on Tuesday against the New Orleans Hornets.

The Lakers are languishing, their playoff fate no longer in their control. But Dwight Howard still thinks a championship is possible. "If we get into the playoffs, there's no doubt in my mind and in any of our minds, that we can win a championship," he said Tuesday. "It would be stupid of me to sit here and say to you [media] guys that if we make it to the playoffs, we'll be out in the first round. I have confidence in our team. " The Lakers, though, trail Utah by half a game and have already lost the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Jazz.

If ever there's a time for the Lakers to sweep a back-to-back set, it's now. Age and injuries could always be blamed, but inconsistency would be the biggest, saddest mark of a team that hasn't won on back-to-back days this season. "It's a good time to start," Kobe Bryant said Monday. The Lakers have never gone a whole season without sweeping a back-to-back series in their 64-year history. Even their worst team, the 1957-58 Minneapolis Lakers who finished 19-53, managed to nail a back-to-back.

Portland, with a unanimous City Council vote, became the fourth city Wednesday to require private employers offer workers sick leave. Hailed by supporters as a move to provide workers with protection from being fired if they call in sick, the policy affects businesses who employ six or more workers. The municipal vote comes a day before a similar measure is set to go before City Council members in Philadelphia. "Policies like paid sick days are about more than keeping people healthy -- they're about keeping money in the pockets of working families so they can cover the basics," said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values (at)

SEATTLE - A Portland, Ore., man was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday on charges of aiding one of three suicide bombers who conducted a deadly attack near the headquarters of Pakistan's intelligence service in Lahore in 2009. At least 30 people were killed in the attack, in which armed men sprayed guards with gunfire before sending a van loaded with explosives toward a police building near the provincial headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, one of the most powerful institutions in Pakistan.