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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Wesley Johnson was hard-pressed to think of a more memorable shot hes had than his game-winner against Portland. Kent Bazemore lobbed to Johnson for the go-ahead basket with 6.9 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers 107-106 on Monday night. Theyd been practicing that very play. "Its one of them. Its gotta be up there," Johnson said about where the shot ranked. "To pull out the win like we did and fight the whole game, it was a good one." Pau Gasol scored 22 points and the Lakers won their second straight, snapping the Blazers five-game winning streak. Jodie Meeks added 21 points. The Lakers, who led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter, pushed the lead to 97-86 in the fourth on MarShon Brooks short jumper. But Nicolas Batums 3-pointer narrowed the gap to 103-101 for the Blazers with 3:37 left before Wesley Matthews fadeaway jumper tied it at 105 with 1:10 left. Damian Lillard hit one of two free throws to give Portland its first lead since the first quarter. But the officials reversed a possession call with 7.1 seconds left, giving the ball to the Lakers. Bazemore pitched to Johnson for the deciding layup and Lillard missed a 3-pointer as time ran out. "These guys are straight up athletes in this league and you can just throw it anywhere around the dash," Bazemore said. "He (Johnson) caught it and could have actually dunked it but went with a safe one." Robin Lopez had 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Batum had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Blazers. Los Angeles was coming off a 126-122 victory at home Friday over Sacramento, which snapped a three-game losing streak. But the Lakers still sit at the bottom of the Western Conference with the Kings. "They were making shots. They were making jumpers. I think we were deflated all the way around," Blazers guard Wesley Matthews said. "Their energy was higher than ours." The Blazers won the first meeting against the Lakers, 114-108 on Dec. 1. Xavier Henry, who had 27 points against the Blazers in December, returned to the Lakers lineup Monday after missing 28 games with a right knee injury, but he was played only sparingly. Coach Mike DAntoni said hed limit Henrys minutes to start. Steve Nash ran through drills on the court before the game but sat out of his eighth straight game after a brief return from a nerve root irritation, which causes him back pain. Earlier in the day at shootaround, DAntoni told reporters he was doubtful Nash would return this season. After the game DAntoni said: "Hes not quite there physically. He tried it and couldnt finish a game so theres really no point in pushing the injury further. Hes just trying to get well and then well see." Nash, who made the trip to Portland, was noncommittal: "Well see how I feel next week and if I get a chance to practice." Nash, 40, has played in 10 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 7.6 points and 4.7 assists. Kobe Bryant was also in Portland, but he has not been medically cleared to play after breaking his left knee in December. The Lakers jumped out to a 31-16 lead in the first quarter, capping a 14-2 run with Meeks dunk. Portland struggled with eight turnovers. Portland closed the gap in the second quarter, pulling to within 45-38 on Batums dish to Lopez for the dunk and a free throw. But Bazemores last-break dunk extended the Lakers lead to 56-47 with 3:27 left in the half. The Lakers led 63-56 at the half. Los Angeles wouldnt let the Blazers get closer than four points and Gasols dunk extended the lead to 82-73 with 2:36 left. Dorell Wright hit two consecutive 3-pointers for Portland to close within 82-79, but Bazemore answered with a 3 for the Lakers. Blazers coach Terry Stotts said he didnt believe his team overlooked the Lakers. "I think its a credit to the Lakers. They sustained their style of play from the very beginning," Stotts said. "They got out in transition, they were aggressive in passing lanes, they forced eight turnovers in the first quarter. They got us on our heels right away. We got back, but I thought what the Lakers did more than anything was they came out and sustained it for the entire game." Notes: Robin Lopez had 13 points in the first half, a new career high. ... The Blazers announced a contest for fans to design a new floor for the Moda Center for the 2014-15 season. ... Portland was coming off a 102-96 victory at home over Denver on Saturday. Josh Jackson Jersey . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. Deandre Ayton Jersey . - Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Feb. http://www.cheapsunsjerseys.com/. - The Seattle Seahawks have signed nine players to 2014 future contracts, including quarterback B. Devin Booker Jersey . Less than 24 hours after the Wolves lost at home to the Mavericks, 100-98, NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn announced Tuesday that Kevin Love was fouled on his right arm by Shawn Marion in the closing seconds and should have been awarded two free throws. George King Jersey . Erik Cole scored on a breakaway with 4:49 to play, and the Stars rallied to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night.TORONTO -- Brendan Shanahan was brought in to change the culture of the Toronto Maple Leafs. How the new team president plans to do that remains a mystery. In introducing Shanahan on Monday, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president Tim Leiweke made it clear that he wasnt happy with the "character" and "culture" of the team. "Im not sure the Leafs have (the right culture)," Leiweke said. "I definitely sense that we lack an identity, and right now were a team that lacks a direction and we want to change that." Its up to Shanahan and general manager Dave Nonis to do it, but no clear direction for the organization was spelled out on Shanahans "first day at work." The 45-year-old Hall of Famer has a plan, and though he and Leiweke didnt get into specifics, plenty of changes are expected. "I have some ideas in my head about direction, but I think that at the same time ... those are subject to change," Shanahan said. "I think that its very important for people, especially in sports, to have the ability to evolve and to make changes." Change could come in the form of firing coach Randy Carlyle, whose vision for winning hockey didnt seem to fit with the Toronto roster. And it could come in the form of many different players being on the ice opening night this fall than were around for Mondays locker clean-out. But Shanahan and Nonis insist the immediate job is to step back and make an assessment of where the organization is as a whole. Even though each man called Carlyle a "good coach," its difficult to point to things like identity, culture and character without at least considering the next step. "You all saw the team this year, I think we didnt have the identity," Leiweke said. "I think Randy tried to create the identity. To the guys credit last year, they bought into that, and they took on Randys identity, I dont think that happened this year." Shanahan, who grew up in the Toronto neighbourhood of Mimico and previously worked for the NHL as the director of player safety, is expected to shape this teams identity. Its just not clear how he intends to do that. "Dave and I are going to talk about this thing or were going to talk about our team, were going to talk about how we see the best way to play for our team going forward," Shanahan said. "I think that its important for us to assess what we have here, what we have coming up, and I think thats an organizational thing. It would be presumptuous, it would be premature for me to tell you right now where were going to go." Leiweke would like Shanahan to have the same kind of success Masai Ujiri has enjoyed in his first season re-shaping the NBAs Raptors. Hell be given total authority to not only put his fingerprints on the team but completely revamp, if necessary. "This is Brendans team, its his culture, and at the end of the day he makes all the decisions, and were going to support that 100 per cent," Leiweke said. Of course with Shanahan as president, the Leafs power structure is different. All three men at Mondays news conference insisted the working relationship between Nonis and his new boss would go smoothly. "They will work well together and if we have disagreements, the disagreements will be resolved very quickly within the organization," Leiweke said.dddddddddddd. "This isnt going to tear the organization apart. This is going to make the organization a better place." While Shanahan has the final say, it remains to be seen how the decision-making process will be handled. "Your boss has the final say," Nonis said. "Thats just common sense and its the way things have worked. This isnt a relationship thats going to work that way. This is going to work the way it should work, which is were going to work together to try to find the right answers together." Nonis made sure to point out that, at the end of the day, Shanahan is the boss. And Leiweke made sure to point out that this move was first agreed to last summer and not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Leafs eight-game slide that caused them to miss the playoffs. This is Shanahans team. And while hes a Hall of Famer with three Stanley Cup rings who spent the past five years working in the league office, its difficult to pin down his philosophy, other than to figure general managers like Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings and Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils have influenced him over the years. Shanahan sounded like a Holland disciple on Monday. "You have to hire good people and you have to let them do their job," he said. "I think you need to step in and help them when they need help. ... Its a great feeling to be a player and be a part of a team, I view management as the same thing. Youve got your hierarchy and your leadership and things like that, but its certainly a team." The team Shanahan is taking over finished the season 2-12-0 to go from a playoff shoo-in to locker clean-out two days after a final loss in Ottawa. Major changes could be coming, but Shanahan wasnt tipping his hand. "I do like a lot about this group," he said. "From an outsider looking in, theres some really good pieces that a lot of teams would covet. ... You start by looking for ways to improve in small increments, and if you have an opportunity to make improvements, you make them." That seems to be Noniss philosophy, too, even while saying the team isnt where it needs to be. Last years trip to the playoffs may have masked some bigger issues, but falling apart so spectacularly isnt likely to lead to blowing up the roster. "When you look back if were taking the appropriate time, were going to see some things that were happy with in this group, too, and you dont want to throw the baby out with the bath water," Nonis said. "Theres quality people and quality players here, and if we want to get better, were going to do a good job of assessing those pieces and keeping the ones that we think can help us long-term." Building a contending team for the long-term seems to be the goal for Shanahan and the Leafs. Leiweke, whose earlier talk about a Stanley Cup parade drew plenty of criticism, talked instead Monday about building a group thatll be in the mix. "To me the most outstanding statistic, if you look at (Shanahans) career, is not the three Stanley Cup rings but in 21 years he made the playoffs 18 times," Leiweke said. "He is a guy thats not just a student of the game and a fan of the game, but hes an architect of the game, and thats what we needed here." ' ' '