On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Portland Trail Blazers for the fourth time during the 2014/15 season and collected their 55th loss of the season.
Why was this loss any more significant than the 54 that came before? Well, the 2013/14 LA Lakers finished with a record of 27-55, making them the worst Lakers team since the franchise moved off the lakes of Minnesota and to the beaches of California.
After Friday night, the 2014/15 Lakers will be at least as bad as the 2013/14 LA Lakers. If the 2014/15 Lakers do not win two of their final seven games, they will even eclipse the 1957/58 Minneapolis Lakers as the worst team in franchise history.
Back to Friday's game, the Lakers started slow and allowed Portland to take a 25-point lead in the first half. Blazers guard Damian Lillard scored 14 points in the first quarter to help provide Portland with the early cushion that had fans in the stands squirming.
Fortunately for the home team and the home fans, Lakers rookie Jordan Clarkson continued his improved play and single-handedly brought LA back to respectability. Clarkson scored 10 points in the final three minutes of the first half to cut the Lakers' deficit from 25 points to 13 points entering the intermission.
In the third quarter, the Lakers’ 22-year-old bright light in the season of darkness again carried his team back into the contest by adding eight points and three assists. While the Lakers entered the fourth quarter down only 11 points due to Clarkson’s heroics, the rookie would not be able to carry the team much further. The Blazers would quickly extend their lead to 32 points, and Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge would not re-enter the game for the final quarter.
On the night, Clarkson finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 35 minutes, and Lillard finished with 20 points, five assists and three rebounds in 28 minutes. While Clarkson may have won the individual battle, the Lakers lost the game 107-77.
Next, the Lakers play a home and away set against the LA Clippers on Sunday and Tuesday.
