With Brandon Roy (strained groin) still out of commission, Martell Webster is the likely choice to guard Kobe Bryant when the Trail Blazers play host to the L.A. Lakers Wednesday night at the Rose Garden.
Webster -- who spent most of last summer living and training in L.A. -- went against Bryant a couple of times in scrimmage sessions at UCLA. The third-year Portland swingman has a healthy respect for the Lakers superstar. "He's right there with LeBron James as the top two players in the game," Webster said of Bryant. "He's a guy who gets the ball more and shoots the ball more and can do anything on a basketball court. Keeping him in front of you and contesting his shot is the key to defending him, but that's anything but easy."
BOBCATS 93, BLAZERS 85: Charlotte outscored Portland 14-2 over the final 4:06 and won Saturday despite being dominated on the backboards. The Blazers won the rebound battle by a whopping 57-32 margin, grabbing 23 off the offensive glass in the process.
And they still lost.
"Just really bad," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "The body language (of the Blazer players) ... I didn't sense the passion being there tonight.
"Even with that, we had a chance to win the game. Two things you have to do in this game: Take care of the ball and shoot the ball. We had 18 turnovers and shot 36 percent from the floor."
