They’re Looking to Last Year for an Edge

After losing the series opener by 13 points to the Lakers, Portland is hoping history repeats itself in tonight’s Game 2.

Last season, the Trail Blazers lost Game 1 of the Western Conference finals to the Lakers by 15 points at Staples Center, but they bounced back to win Game 2 by 29 points.

“Everybody remembers that we’ve been in this position before,” Portland Coach Mike Dunleavy said after Wednesday’s practice at Staples Center. “We’ve talked about it, but that doesn’t get you a win [tonight].

“This is the biggest game of the season for us. Game 2 is usually the pivotal game in a series. If you win it, you shift the home-court [advantage]. If you lose, it puts a heavy burden on your team.”

Shooting guard Steve Smith, who started only 36 games during the regular season but is in the starting lineup because Bonzi Wells is done for the season because of a knee injury, realizes the Trail Blazers can’t afford to lose two in a row to open a best-of-five series.

“Going down 0-2 against a team like the Lakers is not what you want, but if we win this one, we’ll change the series,” said Smith, who had 10 points in Game 1. “We still have a chance to get one and that was our goal, to come down here and win a game.”

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Portland’s Dale Davis was fined $7,500 for verbally abusing an official after Game 1, which didn’t sit well with the Trail Blazer big man.

“I’m pretty shocked because of the way things went down . . . I’m going to check into it,” said Davis, who did not score in nine minutes before fouling out Sunday. “If you look how the game was, for the most part, I kept my cool, but it was a tough situation.

“I had conversations with [officials] throughout the game but . . . this was an incident after the game. I don’t think this was major.”

Davis plans to appeal. “I think I was pretty much right in this situation. It is a judgment call, his word against mine.”

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In Game 1, the Lakers held a 12-8 edge in fastbreak points. Smith said the Trail Blazers have to get into the open court more to win tonight.

“The last game was sort of a grind game,” he said. “We didn’t get too many good chances to get to the basket, but they didn’t either.

“We have to push up a little more defensively because they are not going to make turnovers.

“They are going to throw the ball into Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal], and he’s not going to take too many dribbles where you can make steals. So you have to pressure them to make long passes into him, instead of short passes.”