Basketball: Portland 116 Los Angeles Lakers 106

Nicolas Batum led a big effort from Portland\'s starters Wednesday, sending the Trail Blazers to a 116-106 whipping of the Los Angeles Lakers. Portland pulled away in the third quarter to take a 14-point lead into the final period and the Lakers could never make a significant charge. Los Angeles has played eight exhibition games and two regular-season contests this season and the Lakers have lost them all. All but 13 of Portland\'s points came from its starting five with Batum producing 26, Wes Matthews scoring 22 and Damian Lillard contributing 21. Both sides shot 50 percent, but the Trail Blazers got off 12 more shots than did the Lakers. Los Angeles turned the ball over 23 times. Dwight Howard, who made only 3-of-14 foul shots in his Los Angeles debut during a season-opening loss to Dallas on Tuesday, went 15-of-20 from the line Wednesday and scored 33 points. Kobe Bryant added 30.