FIRST LOOK

The most heart-broken team in the NBA is Portland, which blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.

The second most heart-broken team is Indiana, which now has to match up with the Lakers.

Put it this way, it won’t be anything like the last series. The Trail Blazers were big, deep and tough defensively, the team best designed to contain Shaquille O’Neal. The Pacers are at the other end of that spectrum.

O’Neal outscored Rik Smits, 53-12, this season. Pacer Coach Larry Bird says he hates to double-team because his players aren’t quick enough to rotate and recover out of it. Of course, he’ll double-team in this series, whether he wants to or not, or Shaq will average 40.

Smits could be in foul trouble by the four-minute mark of every game. If things really go bad, he might not play 48 minutes all series. And, as the Pacers often note, even at Smits’ advanced age he’s still their only player who can command a double-team inside.

Nevertheless, if the Lakers take games off, as they did in the last series, this could be competitive, with three of the first five in Conseco Fieldhouse, where the Pacers shoot the lights out. But if the Lakers slingshot out of their Game 7 rally with new momentum, it could be the short series everyone expects.

In any case, if the Lakers don’t win it, it’ll be an upset for the ages.