NBA’s Best Meet at End of a Long Road in Finals : Basketball: Chicago has played 107 games, Portland 103 for the right to play for the title for the second time in three seasons.

It is not unlike a marathon followed by a rigorous climb up a steep mountain. The journey never seems to end. It taxes the body and the mind and the will. The strongest survive. It could be no other way. The schedule demands it.

For the Chicago Bulls, it began in training camp in October -- 107 exhibition, regular-season and playoff games ago. The Portland Trail Blazers have played 103 times. The end is near for both, but when it arrives, there will be lasting joy for only one team. There will be only one champion.

The Bulls and Blazers begin the final battle for the 1992 NBA title Wednesday night in Chicago. Game 1 of the best-of-seven National Basketball Assn. Finals will be played in Chicago Stadium.

It is a series that was meant to be. It is the team with the best record in the East against the team with the best record in the West. Chicago was 67-15; Portland was 57-25.

It is a series with perhaps the best matchup of guards since the glory days of Jerry West vs. Walt Frazier: Michael Jordan vs. Clyde Drexler.

It is a series with a classic match of big city vs. small: Chicago vs. Portland, Ore.

It is a series that easily could have happened last year when the Blazers had the best record in the league (63-19), but lost in the Western finals to the Los Angeles Lakers.

It is a series that will not be decided by lack of experience or other intangibles. These teams know what they are doing, and they are comfortable in the championship round.

The Bulls are attempting to become the third consecutive team, following the Lakers and Pistons, to win consecutive titles.

The Blazers are schooled in the art of how to play in the finals. Two years ago, they split the first two games of the championship series against the Pistons, but then were overwhelmed in three consecutive games at home to lose the series in five games.

In the last three years, the Blazers have played in 52 playoff games -- more than anyone in the league. The Bulls have played in 49 during the same period.

“We feel we have a good chance to win,” said Portland Coach Rick Adelman. “We know it’s an excellent team we’re going to play, and we’re going to have to play very well. But we’ve played at a very high level he last three years. We know what it takes to win.”

So do the Bulls, though they have been severely tested in this season’s playoffs. After gliding past the Miami Heat in a first-round sweep, the Bulls were battered and bloodied by the New York Knicks, who extended the defending champs to seven games. The Cleveland Cavaliers fell in six, but not before administering a 26-point beating to the Bulls in Game 2 in Chicago.

The Bulls were frisky in last season’s playoffs, winning 15 out of 17 games and cruising to a five-game finals victory over the Lakers.

But the pressure of repeating obviously has taken its toll. At times in the playoffs, the Bulls have backed off when faced with challenges. They have been reluctant to pay the high physical price it takes to win another title. Jordan has noted on several occasions that the Bulls seem to be less committed, and not as hungry to win a championship as they were last season.

“In a lot of ways,” said Bulls Coach Phil Jackson, “there is a feeling of relief to get back to the finals.”

If the Bulls don’t shift into overdrive, however, they know the Blazers can overtake them, because even the Bulls admit that the Blazers can match them in talent and athleticism.

“Portland is one of the most athletic teams in the league,” said Jordan. “We won’t underestimate any of those players. They’ve got a bunch of poster characters in terms of talent on that team.”

In Jordan, the Bulls have the Royal Highness of poster characters. Commercially speaking, the man is everywhere, but that’s because on the basketball court, he’s head and shoulders above the competition.

He has a worthy challenger in Drexler, but while the Jordan-Drexler matchup will be entertaining, it will not be decisive, unless Drexler dominates Jordan, which is so unlikely it is not worth considering.

If the Blazers have something going for them, it is at point guard, where Terry Porter is better than John Paxson. Porter has elevated his game in the playoffs, averaging 23.5 points after averaging 18.1 during the regular season. Paxson may be a better spot-up shooter than Porter, but when Porter enters his own personal zone, he is an unconscious outside shooter. It is not uncommon for Porter to dribble left, stop, pop and score from three-point range.

If it is true, however, that Jordan has an edge on Drexler and Porter has an edge on Paxson, then the series could be decided by the Scottie Pippen-Jerome Kersey matchup.

Kersey’s production tailed off to 12.6 points a game this season, his lowest average in five years. But he has averaged 19.5 in the playoffs. He also is much stronger physically than Pippen. When Xavier McDaniel was in Seattle, he and Kersey had some sort of fight almost every game. If Kersey is as physical with Pippen as McDaniel was, he has a chance to unnerve Pippen.

The Bulls desperately need an Olympian performance from Pippen, whose average has dropped from 21.0 to 18.9 in the playoffs. In Pippen’s first six games against the Knicks, he was only 37 percent from the field. In Game 7, he had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Bulls won.

In the Bulls’ four victories over the Cavs, Pippen averaged 23.7 points, 12.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists while shooting 51.5 percent from the field. In the Bulls’ two losses, he averaged 12.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and shot 36%.

“Scottie has had an up-and-down playoff,” Jackson said, “but the games he has played well, we have won. We’ve got to get him out here and shooting well. If he doesn’t shoot well, we’re going to have a long night because Michael is going to have to carry too big of a load.”

The load is heavy for both teams. The weight of the season and of the expectations of the fans in their respective cities is enormous. Bulls fans are taking a repeat for granted. Blazers fans have been waiting two years for a title.

Within two weeks, the journey will end. One will be invigorated. The other will be crushed. There will be no middle ground. Only one banner will fly.