They’re Able to Go Deep

While Shaquille O’Neal is busy quoting Aristotle, the Portland Trail Blazers are having some deep thoughts of their own.

Deep as in the extent of their roster, which has more backup systems than the space shuttle.

They just keep coming at you with more and more people--kind of like the Wayans family.

Many people believe that the drawn-out schedules and long television timeouts during the NBA playoffs provide ample rest, allowing the starters to play extended minutes and making depth a non-factor.

“I think they’re wrong,” Portland forward Scottie Pippen said. “It all depends on if it’s working for you or against you.”

It’s working for the Trail Blazers, big time.

They fielded two complete teams Thursday night, which was how they essentially beat the Utah Jazz by 20 points twice in the same game. After surrendering a 21-point first-half lead, they regrouped to win Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series, 103-84.

The Trail Blazers have a 3-0 lead in the series and are a lock to finish off the Jazz. Their first opportunity is Game 4 on Sunday.

Game 3 showed just how beneficial Portland’s depth can be. The Trail Blazers have a nice blend of veteran players who are starving for a championship and young guys eager to prove themselves.

It worked perfectly in the first half, when foul situations that could have led to disaster instead helped the Trail Blazers pull away.

Damon Stoudamire picks up his second foul seven minutes into the game. No problem. In comes Greg Anthony, who started in half of his games for the New York Knicks over a two-season stretch.

Rasheed Wallace gets foul No. 2 with three minutes to play in the quarter? Big deal. Bring in Brian Grant, who started at power forward ahead of Wallace last season.

Two fouls on center Arvydas Sabonis? So what? The Trail Blazers go small and bring in Detlef Schrempf, who was a starter in Seattle and a two-time winner of the NBA’s Sixth Man award with the Indiana Pacers.

The Trail Blazers even have solid backups for their backups.

After Grant was called for three quick fouls, Portland Coach Mike Dunleavy brought in Bonzi Wells. Wells is one of the least accomplished members of Portland’s bench, but he was the most productive Thursday night.

He made a baseline jumper over Howard Eisley, then took Eisley into the lane for another jumper.

Utah switched Bryon Russell onto Wells and Wells had no problem scoring on him either.

Wells had nine of Portland’s 18 bench points in the first half, when Utah’s reserves scored only two.

He was on the court when the Trail Blazers made their first big run, rolling off to a 53-32 lead in the first quarter.

Utah was forced to stay with their starters in the second quarter, when Coach Jerry Sloan normally likes to rest his aging stars.

They did what he asked, pulling back to within six points when the Jazz got aggressive and Portland lost patience on offense, settling for early and bad shots.

The Jazz tied the score three times in the third quarter, bringing the Delta Center crowd back to life. Then Portland--led by Sabonis, who scored 22 points--took over with a 13-2 run to start the fourth.

“They were able to battle back with their starters, but I think they ended up running out of gas in the second half,” Pippen said. “Those guys carried heavy minutes--22 for Stockton and Malone in the first half. They’re not used to carrying those kind of minutes. We felt like we could wear them down in the second half.”

For the game, Portland’s reserves outscored Utah’s, 35-2, and outrebounded them, 17-5.

Their overall strength from players 1-10 makes Pippen feel even better about his squad right now than he did the last time he visited the Delta Center in the playoffs, when the Chicago Bulls were wrapping up their sixth championship in 1998.

“I think my team right now is much stronger, well-rounded,” Pippen said. “From a talent standpoint, we’re a stronger team.”

The Trail Blazers don’t have that one great player, a superstar who compares with Michael Jordan.

That could haunt them if they’re caught in tight games and are unable to establish a player they can consistently go to for baskets, the way Jordan bailed out the Bulls so often.

But if the bench keeps playing at this level, they might not have to worry about anyone coming close.

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