That’s No Final Answer

There is no place like home, but no victories there lately, either.

In yet another macabre twist to an already bewildering series, the Lakers’ house was haunted again Tuesday, inhabited and controlled by the spirit of Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith, Rasheed Wallace and several other things that went dunk in the night.

After the two surging Laker victories in Portland, suddenly, once again, there were howls in the background and ghosts in the Laker machinery.

They had a chance to wrap it up, but now they go traveling again.

By the time Kobe Bryant had limped out and fouled out, Glen Rice and Robert Horry had shot themselves out, Shaquille O’Neal had been worn out and the rest of the Laker team had bombed out, the Portland Trail Blazers on the way to a 96-88 victory in Game 5 of the best-of-seven Western Conference finals before 18,997 at Staples Center.

It was the fourth consecutive victory by a road team in this series ( after the two teams had been won all of their home games in the playoffs), and it narrowed the Laker series lead to 3-2, with Game 6 in Portland on Friday.

“We know in our hearts we can outplay this team,” said Pippen, who scored 22 points, grabbed six rebounds, had six steals, blocked four shots, and got the entire Laker backcourt into foul trouble.

“We have throughout this series, but we haven’t completed it in the games. We feel like we’re going to outplay them every time out on the court.”

The Lakers, however disappointed they were to blow a chance to put this dangerous Portland team away (and to lose their second consecutive at Staples, after the Game 2 fizzle May 22), mostly shrugged off the defeat.

And they looked north to Portland, where they have won the last three meetings. Portland, meanwhile, is 2-1 against the Lakers at Staples over the same period.

“Well, we feel pretty comfortable going back up to Portland,” said Bryant, who suffered through another tough offensive night (four for 13 shooting, 17 points) after spraining his right foot in the first quarter and battling foul trouble throughout the game, finally fouling out with 4:45 left.

X-rays taken of his foot after the game were negative, but team doctors will reevaluate Bryant today.

Bryant said he regularly suffers such bumps and bruises and said that he isn’t worried about the injury--or the hairpin turns of this series.

“Without stress, there’s no progress,” Bryant said. “We’ve been going through tough situations since we’ve been here. So this is really nothing.”

Coach Phil Jackson said this defeat was a product of Portland’s disruptive defense and the Lakers’ inability to either make shots (30 for 79, including a woeful six for 27 from three-point distance) or get it consistently into O’Neal (31 points, 21 rebounds).

Portland took an early lead, drove it up to eight points at halftime (capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Pippen), then burst to close the third quarter with a 13-point edge.

“This is a disappointment for us, but it’s not a surprise,” Jackson said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well--we shot too many three-point shots.

“We ended up standing on the perimeter a lot in this ballgame, trying to get the ball into Shaq, but not finding a way. And you have to credit Portland for some of that.”

Jackson, though, was precise in his evaluation of Bryant’s performance, which included six turnovers (of the Lakers’ 16), when asked if he thought Bryant was a little bit out of control.

“A little bit? He got a lot out of control out there tonight,” Jackson said.

Said Bryant, who suffered most of his problems by trying to work the ball into the middle of the Trail Blazer defense:

“It was shaky. I’ve got to take what the defense gives me, and the game is a lot easier than what I showed tonight.

“It was just trying to get to the basket. When you’re up against a great team like Portland, just take what the defense gives you. They’re giving wide-open jump shots, 18-footers, 15-footers, I’ll knock them down up there.”

Pippen, meanwhile, was a 43-minute terror, flashing glares at Jackson, his old Chicago Bull coach, finding his way to the rim and flicking away Laker passes and dribbles.

“Pippen was very, very, very, very aggressive tonight,” Laker forward Robert Horry said. “When he’s like that, that’s what gets us in foul trouble.

“We’ve got to find a way to slow him down.”

While the Trail Blazers pounded it inside to Wallace (22 points) or Bonzi Wells, or had Pippen blast into the key on his own, the Lakers shot and shot and shot . . . and missed and missed.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight,” O’Neal said. “We need to stick with what got us the wins.”

“We took too many jump shots.”

Said Jackson: “I thought our focus was out of kilter a little tonight.”

Rice was one of eight shooting (0 for 5 from three-point distance) and Horry continued a recent slump by missing eight of his 11 tries.

“Glen’s our free shooter, basically, he’s got a license,” Jackson said. “For us, an open shot is a shot he should take.”

Pippen began the game as if he wanted to beat the Lakers by himself, no matter what else the Lakers tried or his teammates could not accomplish.

In one four-minute stretch near the beginning of the game, Pippen drew two fouls on Ron Harper, two fouls on Bryant, made all four of his field-goal tries, two of his free throws, and blocked two shots.

By the time that flurry was over--there would be more Pippen to deal with--the Trail Blazers had jumped ahead, as usual, 19-12.

And the whistles kept hitting the Lakers: At the end of the first quarter, Harper and backup Brian Shaw had three fouls apiece, and Bryant had two. In the quarter, Portland shot 15 free throws (making nine) and the Lakers took only three (making all three, including two for two by O’Neal).

But Pippen crashed onto his left hand, suffering two dislocated fingers, late in the first, and that slowed him down enough to get the Lakers back in rhythm for a while.

But he was gone only for a few minutes--not nearly long enough for the Lakers.

“We’re going to have to take a little more time to win this series,” Jackson said. “I think it’s really good for us as a basketball team.

“This team has not grown enough to understand some of the subtleties of what we’re trying to do. It’s a good measure for us.”

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Friday

GAME 6

LAKERS AT PORTLAND

6:30 p.m., Channel 4

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GAME 5, MOST POINTS

Lakers: Shaquille O’Neal, 31

Trail Blazers: Scottie Pippen,

Rasheed Wallace 22

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MOST REBOUNDS

Lakers: O’Neal, 21

Trail Blazers: Wallace, 10

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MOST ASSISTS

Lakers: Robert Horry, 5

Trail Blazers: Detlef Schrempf, 6

By The Numbers

Laker losses at Staples Center this season (43 victories): 7

Laker losses to Portland at Staples Center this season: 3

Laker field-goal percentage in three victories this series: .512

Laker field-goal percentage in two losses this series: .385

Three-game losing streaks for Lakers this season: 0

Years since Lakers have played in NBA finals: 9

Coverage

COLD NIGHT IN L.A.

Shooting woes continue for Horry, and Rice follows big game in Portland with a little one at home. Page 7

THEIR PRIDE IS SHOWING

Trail Blazers earn themselves a chance to make up for poor efforts in Games 3

and 4. Page 7

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GAME REPORT, PAGE 6