Damian Lillard has insisted that the Portland Trail Blazers are heading in the "right direction" as they close in on a playoff berth.
The Blazers secured their fourth win in a row with a comfortable 124-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The point guard told reporters: "We had a rough stretch, but now we've kind of picked it back up and we're going in the right direction at the perfect time.
"Now that we're close to the post-season, we want to have that rhythm going into the playoffs, because that's what we play the regular season for.
"Coming in, we felt this could be a 'trap' game against a team that's not in the playoff race. But we knew coming in that they were a dangerous team."
The result leaves Portland fifth in the Western Conference standings, level on wins with the Houston Rockets.
