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EVENTS
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PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Depleted and defeated, the Portland Trail Blazers stopped short of another dysfunctional display. The once-powerful Trail Blazers went meekly into what should be a tumultous offseason with a 99-86 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, who advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with their first playoff series sweep in 10 years. After losing to the Lakers in an excruciating Game Seven in last year's conference finals, the Trail Blazers loaded up with star players, adding forwards Shawn Kemp and Dale Davis and guard Rod Strickland to an already talented roster. On March 3, Portland led the West with a 42-18 mark before its chemistry imploded and its season unraveled. Kemp entered a drug rehabilitation program, guard Bonzi Wells went down with a torn ACL and forward Rasheed Wallace was suspended for throwing a towel in the face of teammate Arvydas Sabonis. "In the history of this league, there has never been a team of five superstars who has won (the title)," Lakers superstar Shaquille O'Neal said. The Blazers lost 14 of their last 22 regular-season games to fall to seventh in the West. The meltdown continued in the playoffs as Wallace continued to amass technical fouls. The team had no answers for O'Neal and fellow superstar Kobe Bryant and resorted to chippy play in losing the first two games. "It's pretty embarrassing but I just move on," said Blazers forward Detlef Schrempf, who came out of retirement midway through the season. "I don't think we really had a shot the way we played at the end of the season. You can have a lot of talent but you jusst can't throw it together and expect to win." With Davis and guard Stacey Augmon suspended for their roles in an incident in Game Two, the final result was inevitable. The only difference in this was the Blazers went down with a little dignity. "It's extremely disappointing for everyone on our team, the organization and our city," said Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy, whose job may be in jeopardy. "We played at a high level for a good portion of the year and the last part of the year, we didn't. There are a lot of reasons maybe why but who knows the reality of it? We just didn't do it." "There are a multitude of reasons," Blazers guard Greg Anthony said. "Right now is not the time to try and decipher what the real cause was because what we do is very emotional business. It's very intense." O'Neal had 25 points and 15 rebounds and Bryant added 22 and nine assists for the Lakers, who never trailed in the second half and swept a playoff series for the first time since eliminating Houston in three games in 1991. "Last year we had a couple of series that we're up 2-0 and we weren't able to close out right away," Lakers guard Brian Shaw said. "Everyone was focusing on closing this series today." The second-seeded Lakers had their own problems earlier this season but have sorted them out at the right time. They have won 11 in a row and await the winner of the Sacramento-Phoenix series. "As the defending champs, we're the team to beat," O'Neal said. "I'm not going to say anything that will inspire anyone else we will meet in the playoffs." The Lakers also are in the midst of a very favorable schedule. This game was their first venture outside Los Angeles since April 8 and they figure to be at home another two weeks as they host the first two games of the next series, which starts no earlier than Sunday. "Although a coach is always worried about a lengthy layoff, especially in the playoffs, when you're not used to this time off. In the course of the season you lose your rhythm. For us at this time, we have enough players that are recovering or getting better and healthier that it should really work well for us at this time." Some Blazers fought to the very end. Guards Damon Stoudamire and Steve Smith scored 25 points each and were behind a rally in the third quarter that got Portland within a point. Others gave up as forwards Wallace and Scottie Pippen combined to shoot 7-of-32. "We all should feel some sort of responsibility for what went down here," Stoudamire said. Stoudamire scored 17 points in the first half, giving Portland a 37-31 lead with 7:26 left in the second quarter before Los Angeles took the lead for good with a 13-2 run featuring eight points from Bryant. Two free throws by Rick Fox gave the Lakers a 44-39 lead with 3:48 remaining. In the final seconds of the first half, a dumb backcourt foul by Pippen -- his third -- gave Derek Fisher two free throws and LA a 54-47 advantage. The Lakers saw their lead cut to 67-66 on Smith's 3-pointer with 4:49 left in the third period. Fisher answered with a 3-pointer and Los Angeles rebuilt the lead to 79-72 entering the final 12 minutes. Arvydas Sabonis opened the fourth quarter with a hook, but the Lakers responded with a 12-2 burst. O'Neal started it with a pair of hoops, Fisher made a 3-pointer and Bryant made a jumper and two free throws for a 91-76 lead with 7:15 remaining. The Blazers got no closer than 11 points thereafter. Fisher had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists as he continues to give Los Angeles a third scorer. Fox added 13 points for the Lakers, who shot 44 percent (36-of-81) and held a 50-42 rebounding edge. "Teams obviously will take away our strengths, or at least make it difficult for our primary scorers to score," said Jackson, who never has lost a first-round series in 11 tries. "We have to have some help from players who are important to us and hit shots and take care of the ball." Sabonis had 12 points and 11 boards for Portland, which shot below 39 percent (34-of-88). Wallace scored nine points and Pippen seven. |
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