LAKERS

THE LAKERS HAVE CLINCHED THEIR PLAYOFF SPOT…The Los Angeles Lakers (50-20) Sunday officially began defense of their NBA championship with an 84-80 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers (40-30) that secured them a playoff spot and earned them their fourth straight Pacific Division crown. Veteran Derek Fisher, who’s been in a Lakers uniform to enjoy a whole heck of a lot of playoff appearances, hit the game and playoff-clinching jumper with 10 seconds on the clock, and once again earned praise from his teammates. “He makes big shots all the time,” said Kobe Bryant, who finished with 22 points. “D-Fish came through,” added Lamar Odom, who contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds. One teammate not around to congratulate Fisher was center Andrew Bynum, who served the first of his two-game suspension for a flagrant foul 2 against Minnesota’s Michael Beasley last Friday. Here is the rest of Sunday’s NBA scoreboard.