LOS ANGELES (AP) - Back on the court after days of mourning, the Los Angeles Lakers grinded out a gritty win thanks to a vintage performance from their biggest star. Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, Dwight Howard had 19 points and 16 rebounds, and Los Angeles capped a trying week with a 111-107 victory over the slumping Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. "It's been a tough week," Howard acknowledged. But as a team and a city and an organization, we're coming together. And it's great. We need all the support we can get from our fans, and the Buss family needs the support from us. So we're getting there. You could see the effort and emotion that we have on the court. During his eulogy, Bryant publicly challenged his teammates in the audience to win a championship in Buss' memory - even though the Lakers are 3½ games behind Houston for the final Western Conference playoff spot with 26 games remaining. Kobe said what he had to say. But as a team, we understand how important the second half of the season is for us and what we want to accomplish," Howard said. We've had a lot of ups and downs this year, and we want to do whatever we can to get this right. Kobe and myself understand that. It starts with me and him, as far as being on the same page. And on defense, it starts with me. Bryant scored 11 points in the final 5½ minutes as the Lakers won for the seventh time in 10 games. Antawn Jamison had 16 points off the bench, helping to hand Portland its season-worst seventh straight loss. The Trail Blazers have lost five consecutive road games and 10 of their last 11 away from the Rose Garden, leaving them 11th in the conference standings. Portland led 82-80 after three quarters, and the lead changed hands 11 times before Steve Nash's layup gave the Lakers a 107-105 lead with 1:44 to play. Bryant finished 9 for 9 from the line and 15 of 23 from the floor, but still called it "somewhat of an off-shooting night." "I had to be a little bit more assertive - but at the same time make plays for my team," said Bryant, who committed five turnovers. I've been having off-shooting nights for the last month. We just need to continue to focus and approach every game like it's a playoff game. I think a lot of us are playing a lot harder. I know for myself, I'm in better shape now and I'm able to do more. So that's going to get better," Howard said. I think I have to really come out every night with the same intensity and the same effort. I have to do a better job of playing hard, and I'm going to try. All of Portland's starters scored in double figures, while the bench produced just 14. "I like the way our team fought," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. We've had a rough stretch, but we came out and played aggressively. We pushed the tempo and did a lot of good things out there. I thought we played well enough to win the game, but unfortunately we didn't. He is only 2 for 39 since Jan. 20, when he misfired on his last two attempts. "I didn't realize I was shooting so poorly from the 3," Bryant said. It was one of those things where I was facilitating and taking a 3 here and there, a 3 here and there. All of a sudden, it adds up. It just irked me it's not going down. ... No Lakers player scored 30 or more points in the team's previous 17 games since Jan. 15, when Bryant and Howard each had 31 in a 104-88 home win against Milwaukee. ...