The Portland Trail Blazers began a five-game road trip at the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. Coach Chauncey Billups was eager to improve his team’s defense in the new year.

The Blazers showed positive signs in that regard, but lacked the offense they needed in a 114-106 loss at Crypto.com Arena.

The Blazers went 3-9 in December and suffered a defensive rating of 124.4, the worst in the NBA that month.

They looked better defensively against the Lakers, who played without center Anthony Davis. But 18 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Lakers, who dominated fast-break points 26-12, and LeBron James proved too difficult to overcome.

To their credit, the Blazers stayed in the game despite trailing by as many as 15 in the fourth quarter. The Blazers used a small lineup to trail by just 103-100 when Anfernee Simons hit a three-pointer with 2:30 left.

“I really liked the way we fought back down the stretch,” Billups told reporters.

Simons led the Blazers with 23 points, while Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe each scored 19 points.

But James, who led all scorers with 38 points, was unstoppable when the game was on the line.

His three-pointer with 58 seconds left gave the Lakers a 110-102 lead. His reverse layup with 17 seconds on the clock pretty much tied the game at 112-106.

Portland shot 50% from the field and 34.6% from distance, compared to 45.7% and 34.9% for the Lakers, who had just 12 turnovers.

The Blazers won the first quarter 31-27 and led with seven minutes left in the second quarter. But the Lakers outscored the Blazers 24-8 the rest of the game and took a 60-51 halftime lead.

“I was happy with how we fought,” Simons told reporters. “We could have just laid down at that moment. We still kept going and encouraged each other when we got back into the game.”

The lineup of Simons, Sharpe, Avdija, Toumani Camara, and Scoot Henderson has done wonders for the team offensively. They combined for 29 points on 11 of 18 shooting in the final quarter.

WHAT IT MEANS

The Blazers (11-22) moved to 3-14 on the road this season. In away wins they are only ahead of New Orleans (5-29, 1-15 away).

The Lakers (19-14) played only their second game without Davis this season. On November 11, they lost 131-114 at the Memphis Grizzlies with Davis sidelined.

DALANO BANTON COMES BACK

Dalano Banton, who missed three games with a hip injury, returned and played just under five minutes. He scored two points with one rebound.

GRANT STAYS OUT

Jerami Grant missed a second game with a facial bruise. Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said Wednesday that Grant did not suffer a concussion when Dallas guard Kyrie Irving accidentally hit him in the face with his arm during Saturday’s win. But the Blazers forward didn’t feel well enough to practice Wednesday after missing the team’s loss Monday to Philadelphia.

SIMONS CLIMBING TABLE

Simons hit a three-pointer in the third quarter to move into third place in Blazers history with 827.

Simons, 25, passed Wesley Matthews, who scored 826 points during his time with the Blazers from 2010 to 2015.

CJ McCollum (1,297) is in second place behind Damian Lillard (2,387).

Simons finished the night fourth of nine players with three-pointers and 830 career three-point field goals.

Simons also surpassed the 5,000-point mark after entering the game with 4,996 points. He now has 5,019.

Next

The Blazers face Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks (17-15) on Saturday at 5 p.m.

— Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)