Lakers Fourth-Coming

Not bad for a hockey town.

Those poor Portland Trail Blazers stepped from Figueroa into a time warp.

From a sunny April, to a maddening June.

From an ordinary Game 1, to a howling Game 7.

From Laker perception into Laker reality.

Conveyed during the deafening course of a 106-93 victory over the Trail Blazers in the playoff opener Sunday at Staples Center, that reality is this:

The funny, feuding, fluctuating Lakers are ready to defend. All of them. The players. The coach. The fans.

Their game face is fitted, or did you not see Rick Fox gritting his teeth at the screaming crowd after a steal and a layup during the deciding 15-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter?

“That’s not good for my molar,” he said with a smile.

Their focus is fixed, or did you not hear Phil Jackson yelling at the referee loud enough to accumulate only his third technical foul of the season?

“I have to instinctively coach them,” Jackson said.

Their intensity is real, or did you not feel the air being squeezed out of Portland on the final play of the third quarter after Robert Horry missed a fallaway jumper as the 24-second clock expired?

The Trail Blazers thought there had a been a shot-clock violation, and quit playing. Shaquille O’Neal did not, grabbing the rebound and gently laying it in to give the Lakers a two-point lead.

They never lost that lead.

“The critical shot of the game,” Jackson said, and everyone laughed, but it was probably true.

And those maligned L.A. fans, did you see many of the 18,977 standing and flapping balloons and stamping their feet--even before the game started? Not only did they show up on time, but they stayed late, after the on-court interviews, after “I Love L.A.”

“It was similar to Game 5 against Sacramento last year,” Fox said. “That’s the message the fans sent.”

Part of the hubbub, of course, was about this being no ordinary first-round matchup.

“There was a lot of nervous energy, because people knew this would not be a cakewalk for anybody,” said the Lakers’ Brian Shaw.

But part of it seemed to be an extension from the night of June 19, the last playoff game here until Sunday, the one against the Indiana Pacers that clinched the championship.

That feeling, the gesturing fans reminded the Trail Blazers, is still here.

The crown, they proclaimed, is still in place.

The ticket to the next title, they announced, must be punched at Staples.

“This is going to come down to whoever rides the momentum the longest,” Shaw said.

Turns out, the Lakers are at 10 months and counting.

“The true test of a champion is to go through the best,” Shaw said. “And with Portland, we think we’re starting out with the best.”

It was a typical Laker playoff start--a pass to O’Neal down low, a little one-handed push shot, a 2-0 lead.

It was also a typical Laker playoff first quarter in which O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were struggling. Derek Fisher and Horace Grant combined for more points (21) than the entire Trail Blazer team (19).

“Their attention is on Shaq and Kobe, they are trusting that the rest of us won’t be able to carry the load,” Fisher said afterward with a 21-point smile.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Lakers led by a basket despite just 11-for-33 shooting by O’Neal and Bryant.

Which set the scene for the start of a typical Laker playoff finishing run.

Jackson grabbed Fox, who had two points at the time.

“He said, ‘You’re not giving me anything,” ’ Fox related. “I couldn’t argue with him.”

So Fox sank a three-pointer and shook his fist. Then Shaw made a three-pointer. Then Fox grabbed the ball from Stacey Augmon and raced downcourt and . . .

Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Bryant was asked if this felt like last year’s 15-point comeback against the Trail Blazers in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.

“No,” Bryant said. “They didn’t collapse that much.”

Compared with last year, these Trail Blazers didn’t collapse at all. This time, the Lakers simply took it from them.

This time, the Lakers seem to have a better understanding of the journey, and the effort required even from the first step.

“We came with the right energy, and battled them, and pushed through it,” Fox said.

How serious were they? Just look at their coach.

Jackson actually left his chair. In the first quarter, even. Walked all the way to the scorers’ table a couple of times.

He also made quick substitutions, playing 10 guys in the first half. Last year, it seemed like he didn’t play 10 guys in the entire first series.

“You could see it in our players out there in the fourth quarter,” Jackson said. “This was our time.”

Their time. All of them. The team. The coach. The fans.

How serious was it? The Trail Blazers are already complaining about O’Neal, claiming he is not called for enough offensive fouls or three-second violations.

“When I’m watching him play, I don’t think his move is a legal move,” Trail Blazer Coach Mike Dunleavy said.

For one afternoon, anyway, the Lakers’ best move was the one-footed squash.

Funny thing about that movie being touted throughout the game on NBC.

“Godzilla,” it was.

For one afternoon, anyway, the Lakers were nothing less.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at his e-mail address: bill.plaschke@latimes.com.