A year ago: the Portland Trailblazers - without Oden, with an ailing Batum and without Brandon Roy in game six (injured) - surprisingly eliminated the Lakers in Western Conference Finals for 4-2, comeback from 0-2. Now: with two games remaining, the Lakers are in Portland to defend the n°1 seeding from pressing attacks by Magic and Spurs...
Revenge! Or any other way you want to call. The Los Angeles Lakers dug out Portland (99-92) and made sure (narrowly) the best record in the NBA (23-6), winning also the last game against Phoenix. At Rose Garden the star was Pau Gasol with 24 points and 8 boards. The Blazers were affected by the PG role change: last year the team was led by an amasteful Andrè Miller (series Mvp against the Lakers in 2011, now at Celtics), while this year the starting PG is Armon Johnson. The difference is noticeable.... So the Lakers were able to defend their leadership from all the deadly attacks, ending the regular season with last year same record (23-6), opponent to very close Orlando Magic (24-7) and San Antonio Spurs (21-8).
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