Finally, the Lakers Get to Test Division-Leading Trail Blazers

Unbeatable? Not quite, as the Clippers stunningly proved on Sunday night.

Unknown? Yes, you could say the Portland Trailblazers, still No. 1 in the Western Conference despite the Clipper clunker, are slightly less than a regular act in the NBC-NBA hype machine.

Tonight, the must-see Lakers finally get their first look at Portland since trouncing the Trail Blazers in the first round of last season’s playoffs, 3-1.

The Lakers also eliminated Portland in the first round in 1997, but both of those beatings occurred when the Lakers were the clearly dominant team and Portland had no answer for Shaquille O’Neal.

Now, Portland is atop the Pacific Division, leading the Lakers by 4 1/2 games.

This season, four of the Lakers’ last 11 games are against the Trail Blazers, making this the perfect way for the teams to see if the roles have been switched in the stretch.

“I think everybody’s a little curious to see what kind of game it’s going to be,” Kobe Bryant said after practice Monday, before the Lakers left for Portland.

“We know they’re going to come out with everything they’ve got, play with a lot of emotion.”

Said O’Neal, who averaged 29 points in the Portland playoffs last season, “They have a pretty good team. The best thing about that team is, they play together. They’re going to be a hard team to beat.

“But like I always say, if we get smart, we can play with any team.”

It will be tougher for the Lakers without forward Glen Rice, who will miss his second consecutive game because of a sore throat and a fever.

Laker Coach Kurt Rambis, who used rookie Ruben Patterson in Sunday’s loss to Seattle, said he wasn’t sure whom to start at small forward tonight against a Portland team that is 17-2 at the Rose Garden.

Portland starting forward Brian Grant, who missed the Clipper game because of a bruised knee, is listed as probable.

Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers, previously loaded with talent but fitfully unable to play cohesive basketball, have found a calm peace under Coach Mike Dunleavy, who splits almost equal minutes among a dozen quality players.

No Blazer averages more than guard J.R. Rider’s 15 points a game, but seven average more than seven points.

No Trail Blazer plays more than point guard Damon Stoudamire’s 34.4 minutes a game, and Dunleavy’s frenetic, pressing second unit of Greg Anthony, Jimmy Jackson, Rasheed Wallace, Walt Williams and Kelvin Cato often closes games.

“They kind of remind me of Indiana last year, kind of just snuck in the back door playing excellent basketball,” Bryant said. “I don’t think anybody expected it. I don’t even think Portland expected to have the year that they’ve had.”

A sign of the power balance: Portland is the only team in the league to rank among the top 10 in scoring, scoring defense and rebounding.

The Lakers, meanwhile, are No. 1 in scoring, eighth in rebounding . . . and 24th in scoring defense.

Portland is the kind of team the Lakers want to be.

“They go very very deep, and everybody has given up a little bit of their role to benefit the team and it’s helped them out,” Bryant said. “We just have to make it more consistent, as far as defense and execution.

“I think they’re more consistent on that end and that’s why they have a better record.”

For Portland, the Lakers could be the perfect antidote for erasing the Clipper loss from memory.

“We’ve got to make a statement, for ourselves more than anything,” Stoudamire said. “For some reason [the Lakers] are like the barometer of the league.”