Bryant Has a Pip of a Game

Players and coaches always say these early season matchups don’t mean anything. For once, we can only hope they’re right.

If Friday night’s game was a preview of coming attractions, we might as well wait for Lakers vs. Trail Blazers--Round 2 to arrive at the video stores. This certainly wasn’t anything you’d like to see coming to an arena near you in the playoffs.

The only reason the Lakers will claim any association with this game is because they won it, 93-80.

Otherwise, the Lakers won’t want to view this too many times.

The Lakers got a reminder of what life is like when Shaq is merely very good, instead of dominant. They waded through another of what’s sure to be many nights of Kobe Bryant learning’s curve. And they went through long stretches when the offense bore no resemblance to the triangle.

Portland had minimal offensive production from Scottie Pippen and didn’t get a point out of Arvydas Sabonis until late in the third quarter.

Even though Phil Jackson shortened his rotation, the Laker bench still outscored Portland’s vaunted reserves, 29-15.

Of course, that’s a little skewed by Bryant’s 23 points as a reserve, a role he probably won’t keep for much longer.

The one lasting lesson the Lakers can learn from this game and apply no matter what the lineup is this: Defense will always give you a chance to win.

Despite shooting 36%, they beat a team many consider the best in the league. That was in large part because they held the Trail Blazers to 34% shooting.

And, in what might be a first, Bryant’s most spectacular play of the night came on defense.

After Pippen disposed of Ron Harper and had a clear lane to the basket on a fastbreak, Bryant came flying in to swat the shot (left-handed) out of bounds.

That protected a lead that had dwindled to five after looking pretty cozy at 12 only a couple of minutes earlier and finally gave the crowd something to cheer.

The fans had been waiting all night.

In the post-Jordan, way post-Magic-and-Bird era, no team is a must see. At least Portland can generate some buzz, which is about the most that can be said about anyone out there.

The fans came ready to make some noise for a change, and actually succeeded in drowning out the clinking of glasses in the Arena Club for a little while--until the dreadful shooting of both teams lulled them back into their usual comatose state.

Speaking of being numb, Shaq’s been so awesome that his 21 points, 16 rebounds and six assists barely caught your attention.

There’s just one way to assess the damage Shaq has done to the league in the first month of the season: damn.

Now we’ll see what happens when everyone is in the mix. The Lakers sometimes forget to give Shaq the ball when things aren’t going right on offense. Kobe shot on six straight possessions in the fourth quarter.

But you know who took the most shots Friday night? Not Kobe, not Glen Rice. It was Harper, a sign that something had gone wrong with the offense.

But here’s a good sign for the Lakers. You might not always agree with Charles Barkley’s opinions, but he is always honest with them and he knows a lot about basketball. He is going around saying that the Trail Blazers aren’t as impressive as he thought they would be. Meanwhile, the team he likes watching the most on his satellite dish is the Lakers. After spending most of last season trashing them for being overrated, he said he likes their discipline under Jackson.

The Trail Blazers are taking some time to figure out. They succeed where you think they might fail, and sometimes come up short where you think they might excel.

Before the season I thought Damon Stoudamire would be the person most hurt by all the off-season moves the Blazers made.

He usually needs to have the ball, using high screens, to be at his best. With Pippen handling the rock a good chunk of the time and Steve Smith taking more shots, where would that leave Stoudamire?

As it turns out, Stoudamire’s fine.

“The thing about Scottie is, he’s so unselfish,” Stoudamire said. “If I’ve got it going he’s like, ‘Take it some more.’ ”

Stoudamire had it going on in the first quarter. He worked Derek Fisher to the tune of 14 points.

The only thing that stopped him was the buzzer, which sounded right before he could unleash another three-pointer that rattled home.

But because the Trail Blazers have so many weapons, they sometimes go away from what’s working; Stoudamire only scored nine points the rest of the way.

The Lakers can’t afford to ignore Shaq as frequently as they did Friday. Actually, the less they do to resemble their offense in this game, the better.

J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com.