West Favorites Haven’t Been Playing Like It

Based purely on the preseason hype, the Portland Trail Blazers should be working on their undefeated season right about now.

As it turned out, the NBA required them to go ahead and play the games, resulting in a 15-8 record, the same as the Lakers.

The Trail Blazers play host to the Lakers at the Rose Garden tonight, with both teams trying to find the games to bring them back to the Western Conference finals.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson said the courses taken by the two clubs have varied.

“Ours has to do entirely with not finishing--closing out--games on the road,” he said. “Portland’s been a little bit different. They’ve had some situational things, like [Arvydas] Sabonis has been out. Scottie [Pippen] hasn’t played well, but he’s a veteran of many, many wars. He wasn’t in that kind of shape to get into the season. It took a while for him.

“I think in the beginning of the season, Scottie’s wife had a child, he was distracted more than anything else. It looks to me like he’s having a lot of fun playing right now. So I think they’re right back on board. He’s kind of the glue that will hold them together.”

The Lakers have not won convincingly on the road since they beat Portland on Oct. 31.

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Jackson said he continues to wait for Shaquille O’Neal’s best defensive game.

“I don’t know if it’s conditioning or his Achilles’ or the sprained ankle, but he hasn’t run as freely or as quickly or as often as he did last year, both defensively and offensively,” Jackson said. “He’s going to get that back, work on that, obviously, to get back to his running and into defensive form. Right now, his legs aren’t in the kind of shape he’d like to have them.”

O’Neal ranks second in the league in blocked shots.

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Now that Shaq has become a college graduate, can Kobe Bryant be far behind?

“I might graduate from Harvard or something,” Bryant said, smiling. “I might work toward it. [Mark] Madsen’s recruiting me for Stanford.”

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A bone scan taken Tuesday on Derek Fisher’s foot showed good progress, and he remained on course to return to the court in mid-February. . . . Mike Penberthy’s right knee remains stiff and sore after colliding with Detroit’s Mikki Moore on Sunday.

TONIGHT

at Portland, 7:30

Channel 9, TNT

* Site--Rose Garden.

* Radio--KLAC (570).

* Records--Lakers 15-8, Trail Blazers 15-8.

* Record vs. Trail Blazers--1-0.

* Update--Like the Lakers, the Trail Blazers have had some terrible losses, one at home against Seattle, one at Miami, another at Atlanta. The Lakers won the season opener, 96-86. The Trail Blazers were without Arvydas Sabonis, who has returned from knee surgery. Scottie Pippen sprained his ankle and didn’t score a point. Shaquille O’Neal scored 36 points. Kobe Bryant scored a season-low 14 points on a season-low 11 field-goal attempts.