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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. Juwan Howard Jersey . Various media outlets, including the Detroit Free Press, indicate a deal is close, while USA Today cited an unidentified person directly involved with the negotiations as saying the pact is for two years. 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After dropping a pair of games to the Mets in the Bronx, the Yankees losing streak in this series has reached six in a row. They also have lost a season- high four straight overall and hope that Masahiro Tanaka can stop the bleeding in the first of two straight in Flushing. The right-handed Tanaka has yet to lose as a Major League pitcher, going 5-0 with a 2.57 earned run average through seven starts. However, dating back to his time in Nippon Professional Baseball, the Japanese hurler is unbeaten in his past 41 regular-season starts, going 33-0 since Aug. 19, 2012. Tanaka has won two straight starts and is coming off a 5-3 victory at Milwaukee on Friday. He gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk over 6 1/3 innings, striking out seven. He has won all three of his road starts this season while posting a 2.61 ERA. The 25-year-old also is the first Yankees rookie to begin his career 5-0 as a starter since Whitey Ford went 9-0 over 12 starts in 1950. The Mets have decided to give their future a shot on Wednesday night as 23- year-old Rafael Montero will make his MLB debut. Hell take the place of fellow righty Jenrry Mejia, who shifts to the bullpen. Montero is regarded as the Mets second-best pitching prospect behind Noah Syndergaard and went 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA in eight starts this season with Triple-A Las Vegas. In 24 starts at that level over the last two seasons, he is 9-5 with a 3.25 ERA while striking out 119 batters over 130 1/3 innings. And while the Yankees are looking for Tanaka to get them back on track, the Mets are simply ready to see what Montero can bring to the table. "We think hes ready now," Mets general manager Saandy Alderson told his clubs website of Montero.dddddddddddd "I think everybody in our system thought that he was ready. That doesnt mean hell have a positive result on Wednesday, but were confident that Montero is somebody who can be successful long term." Though the Mets have allowed 14 runs over the first two games of this extended series, they have gotten plenty of offense themselves in winning both games at Yankee Stadium. They jumped out to a quick lead on Tuesday night and rolled to a 12-7 win. Former Yankee Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy both hit three-run homers, with Murphy driving in four runs in total and David Wright adding three hits with two RBI to the Mets third straight win. Zack Wheeler gave up five runs on seven hits and six walks in 4 1/3 innings for the Mets and Daisuke Matsuzaka earned the win with 3 2/3 innings of relief work. "Any way we get wins is good, especially when we come up against a very tough team like the Yankees and to do it in their ballpark is obviously big," said Granderson. "It puts us in a position now to win the series but it definitely isnt done yet because we know the Yankees arent going to quit." The Mets have won the past six meetings in this series after having gone 3-9 against the Yankees in 2011-12. Vidal Nuno gave up seven runs -- five earned -- on four hits and four walks in just 3 1/3 innings to suffer the loss. The leftys ERA climbed nearly a full point to 6.43. "He just got some balls in the middle of the plate today," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "Hes a guy who has to live on the edges and they made it hurt." Brian McCann hit a two-run homer and Yangervis Solarte added a solo shot for the Yankees, who have lost nine of their past 13 games overall. McCann finished with three hits and three RBI. ' ' '