The Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

The Trail Blazers (11-10) have been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA, but negative regression is starting to hit this team. They come into this matchup losing six of their last seven games. That directly correlates with a calf injury to Damian Lillard, and this is the same thing that happened last season. It's tough for any team to compete without their top scorer, especially when it's a guy who provides 30 points and seven assists per game. The only silver lining is that it's allowed some of these role players to step up. Jerami Grant and Anferenee Simons are in some of the best stretches of their careers right now, and it'll be exciting to pair those numbers with Dame's when he's ready to return.

The Lakers (7-12) have been much better over recent weeks, but Monday's loss was one of the most disturbing in recent memory. Los Angeles led by 17 points with nine minutes remaining against the Indiana Pacers and relinquished the lead on the game's final shot. Indiana finished that comeback on a 32-14 run, and it was sad to see this resurgent team fall apart at the buzzer. Los Angeles won five of their previous six games before that shattering defeat, and it's clear things are headed in the right direction. Russell Westbrook has been much better over recent weeks, while LeBron James just returned from injury. Having those two All-Stars play at that level is what's really important going forward, and they should be fine if they can rebound after such a devastating defeat.

These teams played on October 23, with Portland prevailing, 106-104. That gives the Trail Blazers six wins in their last nine matchups with the Lakers, dating back three years.