Lakers-Trail Blazers Season Series Tied, 2-1

FIRST QUARTER (Lakers’ never led; Portland’s biggest lead was six)

LAKERS: 20

TRAIL BLAZERS: 22

What Happened: The quarter was a highlight reel for Portland. The Trail Blazers made 10 of 22 points, and outrebounded the Lakers, 13-9. They forced the Lakers into sloppy turnovers and outplayed them on both ends of the court. But Portland led by only two when the quarter ended, a good sign for the Lakers.

What You Won’t Find in the Box Score: The Lakers came out tentatively, with Ron Harper throwing up an airball from 12 feet as the Lakers quickly fell behind, 6-0.

Winning Number: Despite Shaquille O’Neal making only one of five shots, and Kobe Bryant sitting out half the quarter, the Lakers were down by two and still in the game when the quarter ended.

Wrong Number: Two. That’s how many fouls Bryant had with 6:58 to go in the quarter. Brian Shaw came in to replace him, promptly missed his first shot and committed a turnover. He played better near the end of the quarter, but who would you rather have in the game?

Leading Scorers: Lakers--Glen Rice, Brian Shaw, 5. Trail Blazers--Steve Smith, 9.

Leading Rebounders: Lakers--A.C. Green, 4. Trail Blazers--Rasheed Wallace, 5.

SECOND QUARTER (Lakers’ biggest lead was 10; Portland’s biggest lead was two)

LAKERS: 44

TRAIL BLAZERS: 37

What Happened: Which team has the deep bench? Was it the Trail Blazers? That’s what everyone thought, but the Laker bench outscored the Portland bench, 15-2, in the first half, and outplayed the Trail Blazer bench in all aspects of the game.

What You Won’t Find in the Box Score: Bryant reentered with 8:49 remaining in the quarter, and the Lakers were up by three. When the quarter ended, the Lakers led by seven. Bryant scored all 10 of his points in the second quarter.

Winning Number: Seven. That’s how many field goals the Lakers held Portland to in 23 attempts. It seemed the Lakers had six men on defense, because they cut off every Portland opportunity.

Wrong Number: O’Neal made only three of 10 field-goal attempts in the first half, including several easy shots. If he had been on his game, the Laker lead could have been 14, at least.

Leading Scorers: Lakers--Bryant, 10. Trail Blazers--Wallace, Pippen, Arvydas Sabonis, 4.

Leading Rebounders: Lakers--O’Neal, Bryant, Rick Fox, 3. Trail Blazers--Sabonis, Detlef Schrempf, 3.

THIRD QUARTER (Lakers’ biggest lead was nine; Portland’s biggest lead was one)

LAKERS: 68

TRAIL BLAZERS: 62

What Happened: The Trail Blazers came out and made a statement, turning a nine-point deficit into a one-point lead in about four minutes. The Lakers lost the flow of their offense during this span, and forced too many bad shots as the rest of the team seemed to forget Shaq was part of the offense too.

What You Won’t Find in the Box Score: Robert Horry only had three points in the quarter, but they came on one shot and at a most opportune time. His three-point basket with 39 seconds to go stifled a Trail Blazer run and gave the Lakers a five-point lead.

Winning Number: Shaq made seven of nine free throws through three. The Trail Blazer bench still only had two points, by Jermaine O’Neal, to 18 for the Lakers.

Wrong Number: The Lakers has seven turnovers in the quarter to Portland’s two. However, in the game through three quarters, the Lakers scored 18 points off eight Trail Blazer turnovers, while Portland scored only seven points off 16 Laker turnovers. That is the sign of a championship team.

Leading Scorers: Lakers--O’Neal 11. Trail Blazers--Sabonis 8.

Leading Rebounders: Lakers--Bryant, Shaw, 3. Trail Blazers--Pippen, 5.

FOURTH QUARTER (Lakers’ biggest lead was 11; Portland’s biggest lead was 1)

LAKERS: 90

TRAIL BLAZERS: 87

What Happened: The Lakers had an answer for every Trail Blazer run. They made their free throws when they needed to (10 of 13 in the quarter, 22 of 27 in the game) and didn’t fold under pressure. Despite turning the ball over 19 times, they still beat the (it’s official now) second-best team in the NBA.

What You Won’t Find in the Box Score: Someone needed to tell Chick Hearn that Bonzi Wells does not pronounce his first name “Banzai.” Also, does Scottie Pippen agree with any call that goes against Portland? Get a grip, Scottie.

Winning Number: 19 of 23. That’s the combined free throw totals for Shaq and Kobe. Bryant made all 10 of his free throws, while O’Neal was nine of 13.

Wrong Number: Zero. That’s the number of fourth-quarter field goals for Glen Rice, who finished with nine points. He was invisible for most of the game. For the Trail Blazers, Damon Stoudamire had no fourth-quarter points, and finished with eight.

Leading Scorers: Lakers--Bryant, 8. Trail Blazers--Schrempf, 7.

Leading Rebounders: Lakers--O’Neal 4. Trail Blazers--Pippen, 3.