Steve Nash tweaked his back on Friday night against the Blazers

The Lakers held on to win a close one against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, 111-107.

Steve Nash struggled all game but came up with a crucial basket with 1:44 left to give the Lakers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“I tweaked my back in the first quarter and it kept locking up,” said Nash. “It was tight the whole game and I couldn’t get the mobility.”

Nash finished with four points on two-of-11 shooting, missing his lone free-throw attempt.

“Tonight I couldn’t make shots but I tried to be there for my teammates,” said Nash, who also dished six assists.

Nash said he did everything he could to will his last shot into the basket.

“When the ball got kicked out to me, and I didn’t feel comfortable catching and shooting it because I was backing into it and I felt stiff,” he said, “so I just tried to take my guy one on one and get deep and get a little fadeaway off -- and I was able to knock it in.”

Nash said he had his back worked on throughout the game and at halftime but just couldn’t get it loose enough to play comfortably.

He said he didn’t notice a specific point at which his back started bothering him.

“I didn’t have enough time to get it sorted out and it just tightened up as it [went on],” said Nash of his back. “Hopefully, since we don’t play tomorrow, it should be fine by Sunday.”

The Lakers (27-29) visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, followed by a trip to Denver to play the Nuggets on Monday night.

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Email Eric Pincus at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.