[0] BLAZED AND CONFUSED LAKERS COLLAPSE IN 3RD; BLAZERS EVEN SERIES 1-1 PORTLAND 106, LAKERS 77.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

So this is what happens when Shaquille O'Neal can't see the court, when Kobe Bryant can't find a spare inch to maneuver, when the Lakers bench loses its groove and when every defensive rotation is three steps slow.

And this is what happens when Rasheed Wallace stays on the court, causing defensive havoc and offensive fireworks.

The Lakers lose. At home. By a lot.

Led by the tempestuous Wallace - who this time turned his rage on the opponent, rather than referees - the Portland Trail Blazers worked over the Lakers for a 106-77 rout Monday night at Staples Center, evening the Western Conference finals at 1-1.

The Lakers, formerly undefeated at home in the postseason, fell to 7-1 at Staples and lost home-court advantage in the series, which moves to Portland's Rose Garden for Games 3 and 4.

With Wallace on the court, rather than sulking in the locker room, the Blazers were a vastly different team. A much more lethal one, both inside and out, on offense and defense.

He scored a game-high 29 points to go with 12 rebounds and combined with Scottie Pippen to continually blanket O'Neal and Bryant with double- and triple-teams.

The result: O'Neal scored just 9 points through the first three quarters, and Bryant got 12. No one else picked up the slack, and the Lakers finally collapsed in the third quarter, outscored 28-8 by the Blazers.

They never recovered.

``I thought it was just an awful first half, and we were down three points,'' coach Phil Jackson said. ``I went in the locker room and said if that's as good as they can do with us playing that poorly, we surely can play a much better second half. . . . We came out and played worse in the second half than we did the first half. I just couldn't imagine us to play any worse or Shaquille to have the kind of game that he had the first half and us to be just 3 down and to not be able to survive and come out and play much better the second half.

``You have to give them credit. They kept us off balance and did a good job.''

The Lakers trailed by five points midway through the third, then lost their grip, failing to make a field goal in the final 6:04. Wallace accounted for 11 points in the period, all in the last 4:23, and the Blazers blew open the game - turning a 3-point halftime lead into a 76-53 margin by the opening of the fourth.

``It was nice to have Rasheed in there for the full complement tonight,'' said Portland coach Mike Dunleavy.

The normally quiet gap between the final two periods was instead filled with a chorus of boos from the home crowd.

A 20-0 run will do that sort of thing.

Joining Wallace with 20-point games were Pippen (21) and Steve Smith (24).

It was a rough night all the way around for the Lakers, and no one had it rougher than O'Neal and Bryant. Arvydas Sabonis and Brian Grant both fouled out guarding O'Neal but never needed to resort to Hack-a-Shaq tactics.

Instead, the Blazers used any number of combinations to surround O'Neal and deny him the ball as he took just 10 shots through the first three quarters. He finished with 23 points (on 9-of-16 shooting) and 12 rebounds, but never came close to the dominance he showed in his 41-point Game 1 performance.

It was some of the best defense O'Neal has faced this season.

``It was pretty good,'' he conceded. ``We really didn't go to the basket. We just relied on our jumper too much. It wasn't falling tonight.''

Bryant was similarly doused by the Blazer defense, finishing with 12 points on 2-of-9 shooting.

The best defense any team has shown against O'Neal and Bryant simultaneously?

``Oh yeah,'' Bryant said. ``I'd say so. They were just stopping penetration, forcing other guys to shoot. And the shots that they normally make weren't falling. And Shaq and I couldn't get to the basket, try to get to the free-throw line or whatever.''

No other Laker scored in double figures, though the bench combined fora respectable 23 points.

But the Blazers outshot the Lakers (44.6 percent to 39.1 percent) and brutalized them on the boards with a 49-34 rebounding advantage.

Mostly, Portland just disrupted the flow of the Lakers offense. And Pippen - the former Chicago Bull who knows every wrinkle of Jackson's offense - was at the epicenter of those disruptions.

``Scottie did a great job for us,'' Dunleavy said.

``It's easy to do when you've got a guy that's telling guys what we're running,'' said the Lakers' Robert Horry. ``Like I said before the series even started, Pippen is a key factor. And I think we need to do something to try and get him in foul trouble, get him off the floor, so he can't direct their guys what to do. He's basically telling them what to do, interrupting our flow.''

So the Lakers for the first time this postseason face a must-win on the road.

``We have to look for positives in a negative situation,'' Bryant said. ``The positive is you have to go through some type of adversity to be a champion. If you're gonna get that ring you gotta go through some ups and downs. And this is a big obstacle for us.''AT A LOSS

The worst playoff losses in Los Angeles Lakers history:

Year Opp. Margin

1998 Utah 35

1985 Bos. 34

1982 Phil. 33

1965 Bos. 33

1965 Bos. 32

2000 Port. 29

1988 Utah 28

1992 Port. 26

1985 Den. 26

1980 Pho. 26

1995 Sea. 25

1988 Det. 25

1971 Milw. 23

1992 Port. 22

1985 Den. 22

1974 Milw. 22

1972 N.Y. 22

Note: The Lakers' 29-point loss Monday was their worst ever at home. The previous worst was the 23-point loss to Milwaukee in 1971.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box, chart

Photo: (1 -- color) It was full-speed ahead for Scottie Pippen, left, and the Blazers, and Kobe Bryant and the Lakers could nothing about it.

(2 -- color) no caption (Shaquille O'Neal sitting on bench)

(3) Even such effort by Travis Knight, trying to grab the ball from Scottie Pippen, couldn't turn things the Lakers' way.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

Box: At a loss (see text)

Chart: Game recap