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 Thorough thrashing Blazers hand Lakers their worst defeat of season
Posted: Wednesday April 14, 1999 11:45 AM
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers did more than just beat the Los Angeles Lakers. They humbled them. Portland built an early lead and didn't look back Tuesday night, handing the Lakers their worst loss of the season, 113-86, in the long-awaited first meeting between the top teams on the West Coast. "No doubt, they are better right now," said Los Angeles coach Kurt Rambis, who watched his team show all the bad traits -- lack of hustle, discipline and heart -- that has made the Lakers so hard to figure out. "Their big guys weren't running the floor, and we took advantage of that," said Portland's Rasheed Wallace. "Our shots were falling from all over. We were running the floor, getting dunks and hitting the 3s." With Sacramento's loss to Utah, the Blazers became the first NBA team to clinch a playoff spot. Damon Stoudamire and Isaiah Rider led seven players in double figures with 16 points each for the Blazers, who played the Lakers for the first time since being eliminated by them in the first round of the playoffs last April. Shaquille O'Neal had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who dropped 5 1/2 games behind Portland in the Pacific Division. Kobe Bryant had 20 points and seven rebounds, and Rick Fox had 17 points. The Lakers clearly could have used Glen Rice, who missed his second straight game with flulike symptoms. He didn't make the trip to Portland. "They didn't have their best shooter, so we can't overestimate this game," Blazers guard Jim Jackson said. "But it's still a big-time win for us." Dennis Rodman sat out the second half with a sore left elbow and had just four rebounds and no points. He told trainers he had tendinitis in the elbow and couldn't play. "It takes a man to go out and say he doesn't have it," Rodman told TNT after the game, adding that he had lost five pounds the last few days with the flu. "I play through the pain, but I just didn't have it today." The Lakers, who have lost 10 of their last 12 in Portland, fell to fifth in the Western Conference, a half-game behind the Houston Rockets. Portland, coming off a surprising home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, continued its bid to become the first team in NBA history to go a season without losing two in a row. Brian Grant had 13 points and eight rebounds, Jackson and Wallace had 12 points, Walt Williams added 11 and Kelvin Cato had 10 for the Blazers. "Portland just plays well and hard, and everybody comes to play," O'Neal said. "They don't do anything special. They just never give up. " The teams face each other three more times. "We need to play hard and quit talking about playing hard," O'Neal added. "If we play together, I still think we can beat this team." Portland put the game away in the second quarter, outscoring the Lakers 27-15 to take a 58-37 halftime lead. The Lakers shot just 20 percent in the quarter, and seemed to stand around much of the time while Portland put on an impressive display of dunks and layups. A driving layup by Stoudamire that included a 360-degree spin around Derek Fisher made it 50-32, and Stoudamire's running shot at the buzzer provided a 21-point lead. The Blazers endured a dry spell during the third quarter in which they went 5 1/2 minutes without a field goal. But the Lakers put together only a modest 9-3 run during the stretch, and a baseline jumper by Jackson made it 65-46 with 5:43 left in the period. A 3-pointer by Williams with 29.7 seconds left in the quarter gave the Blazers a 25-point lead. They led by as many as 28. The Blazers shot 56 percent, the Lakers just 39 percent. Two teams hadn't played since April 30, 1998, when the Lakers eliminated the Blazers with a 110-99 win at Rose Garden. It was the second straight year Los Angeles bounced the Blazers 3-1 in the first round, and Portland's sixth straight first-round loss. Notes : O'Neal had 17 points in the first half, but took just six shots in the second half. ... The Blazers had a 28-4 edge in fast-break points. ... Stoudamire, who came in shooting 38 percent, made 7-of-12 shots. ... Portland, leading the league in 3-point defense at 29 percent, held the Lakers to just 3-of-12 from long range. ... The Blazers signed guard Brian Shaw for the rest of the season and placed him on the injured list with tendinitis in his left knee. Backup forward Carlos Rogers scored two points after doctors decided he didn't need surgery on his sore right knee. ... The Lakers' previous worst loss was by 15 points, 105-90 at Philadelphia on March 19. ... Portland's point total was its highest of the season, eclipsing a 111-71 rout of Houston on March 7.
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