Lakers Fourth-Coming

By TIM BROWN

April 23, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The fourth quarter. Again.

The Lakers, territorial to the point of obsessiveness, took to their postseason with another final flourish, with five more perfect minutes that again chased off the very game Portland Trail Blazers.

Before a frantic Staples Center crowd that had seen something like this before, the Lakers scored 32 fourth-quarter points and defeated the Trail Blazers, 106-93, on Sunday afternoon in the first game of the best-of-five Western Conference playoff series. Game 2 is Thursday night.

The Lakers scored 19 consecutive points from deep in the third quarter to nearly halfway into the fourth, sending out ripples of memories from last year’s conference finals, the dramatic Game 7 Laker victory, an agonizing meltdown for the Trail Blazers.

In the spirit of a victory that propelled them to the NBA title they are attempting to repeat, and with defense and rebounds and a resurgent Kobe Bryant, the Lakers took a taut game from a 72-70 deficit to an 89-72 lead. They played with energy befitting that of a short series, where home losses can be devastating.

“We didn’t expect a finish like that,” Coach Phil Jackson said.

Not again, maybe. But, that’s two lousy playoff fourth quarters in a row for the Trail Blazers, in this building, with Shaquille O’Neal under the rim and the house coming down.

“It just happens,” Portland Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “Usually, if you lose, it’s going to be somewhere along the line. I don’t think that’s even in our mind-set. Does it mean anything down the line? I don’t think so.”

O’Neal (seven for 21) and Bryant (nine for 20, 0 for 7 in the first half) had spotty shooting games, but O’Neal had 20 rebounds and Bryant had seven assists and no turnovers. O’Neal finished with 24 points, Bryant with 28 and Derek Fisher with 21.

It was enough to hold off the Trail Blazers, and Rasheed Wallace, who scored 24 points, and enough to spark the run they hope will set the tone for a series they expected to be arduous.

“It’s on us to just break them,” Bryant said. “They’re not going to just self-destruct. They’re going to keep on fighting. They’ve got a guy over there [Scottie Pippen] who’s won six championship rings. We can’t forget that. They’re not going to go down easy.”

Pippen scored 13 points. Damon Stoudamire had 18. But they lost on the shots that didn’t fall, on eight misses and three turnovers, kind of like last year.

“No,” Bryant said. “They didn’t collapse that bad.”

The 19-0 rally was born of the will of Bryant, who lowered his left elbow for two quarters to guard the bruise in his left rib cage, then scored 15 points in the runaway fourth quarter.

“Give credit to Kobe,” said Horace Grant, who had 12 points and five rebounds in the first quarter, then fell into foul trouble guarding Wallace. “He penetrated and got guys shots.”

It was born of a challenge, muttered by Jackson, taken to heart by Rick Fox, a curt “You’re not giving me anything,” as the fourth quarter started that hit Fox between the eyes. Fox initiated the last quarter with a three-pointer, then set his jaw and clenched his fist, feeling the run coming, feeling the defense that would sustain it. Then he had a steal, stripped Stacey Augmon clean at midcourt, and made a breakaway layup. He smothered a Rod Strickland shot beneath the basket, and pushed another run.

Fox looked back on Jackson’s words, shrugged and said, “I couldn’t argue. I went out and tried to make something happen.”

The Laker run was lugged along on the burly shoulders and back of O’Neal, crashed down upon by Arvydas Sabonis and Dale Davis. O’Neal made five of seven free throws in the fourth quarter and scored eight points in the 19-0 run, four of them from the line.

And nudged a bit by Brian Shaw, who came off the bench, allowed Bryant the chance to move to the wing, then stole the ball from Pippen near the sideline and made a three on the right wing.

“Oh, we’re a deeper team than just myself and Shaq,” Bryant said. “If people don’t realize that by now, they’re going to keep getting beat.”

Finally, the rally grew before the very eyes of Wallace, who began the fourth quarter beside Dunleavy, on the bench, and might just as well have stayed there. He scored 24 points in three quarters, 12 in the third quarter alone, and none in the fourth quarter in eight minutes.

By the time he returned to the lineup, the run was on and Portland’s momentum was gone. Bryant made nine of 13 field-goal attempts in the second half, when he scored 25 points and the Laker defense found its legs.

“I thought that broke the game open,” Fox said, “outside of a couple shots going down.”

So the Lakers will count them down on the grease board in their locker room, as long as they go, a win at a time, defending their championship with the defense they rarely had, with the cohesion they occasionally had, and with a black marker.

“1 in the hopper. 14 m,” it read.

One win. Fourteen more, for another championship.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LAKERS vs. PORTLAND

Best of five

Lakers lead, 1-0

GAME 2: THURSDAY at Lakers, 7:30 p.m.

GAME 3: SUNDAY at Portland, 2:30 p.m.

GAME 4: MAY 1 at Portland, TBD*

GAME 5: MAY 4 at Lakers, TBD*

*-if necessary;

TBD-to be determined