[0] COOKIN' WITH RICE; HIS EIGHT 3-POINTERS SPARK LAKERS VICTORY : LAKERS 119, PORTLAND 91.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

From game one to game 1,464, from the days of West to the days of Magic to the present, with their legacy framed in six championship banners on the south wall, the 1999 Lakers paid an appropriate honor Wednesday to the past and to three glorious decades at the Forum.

In the final regular-season home game in Forum history, the Lakers played near-flawless basketball for a 119-91 rout of the Pacific Division-champion Portland Blazers.

And in doing so, guaranteed themselves a chance to play in the 32-year-old arena for a while longer: The victory secured home-court advantage for their best-of-five, first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets.

Funny thing was, the Laker with the least time on the Forum floor seemed the most at home Wednesday. Glen Rice, his former shooting woes a faint memory, hit a franchise-record-tying eight 3-pointers and made 14 of 20 field goals for a game-high 40 points.

Rice started early, hitting an open jumper on the Lakers' first possession of the night, and he found his groove quickly. By halftime, Rice had a team-leading 15 points. That was just a prelude.

The real show came in the third quarter, when Rice went 6 for 6 from behind the arc, as the Lakers outscored the Blazers 39-19 and turned a modest lead into a 27-point rout before the fourth had even arrived.

Rice could do no wrong, as even off-balance jumpers shot with a hand in his face found their way through the net.

The Lakers, fueled by Rice's hot hand, shot better than 51 percent as a team and thoroughly dominated Portland in every area, holding the Blazers to 43 percent shooting and out-rebounding them 43-36. Their 119 points was a season-high, and for the second straight game, the suddenly selfless Lakers dished out 30 assists.

For the Blazers, who long ago wrapped up the Pacific Division and the No. 2 seed in the West, there was little more than pride at stake. But for the Lakers, there was no shortage of motivation.

They needed a win to continue their recent upward trend, to extend their winning streak to four, to maintain momentum into the playoffs and, while they were at it, to secure home-court advantage in their first-round matchup with the Rockets.

The latter point, coach Kurt Rambis tried to downplay.

``Regardless of whether or not anything was on this game, we're a team that's still trying to develop, come together as a team, still working on our deficiencies,'' he said. ``It's another opportunity for us to improve, and that's the way I look at it.

Home-court advantage was certainly a goal, ``but our primary objective is just to play better basketball, so we're playing our best basketball, which we are right now, at the end of the season.''

It was only eight days ago that the Lakers seemed to be playing their worst. Coming off a three-game losing streak, with six losses in their last eight games, they were playing no defense, running the offense with zero precision and generally looking like a team that had ben irreparably damaged by an overdose of change. That, and Dennis Rodman.

Now they not only look ready for the playoffs, they even - dare we say - appear ready for a championship run.

``We're readier now than we've ever been,'' Rambis said, ``but we are far from being the team we have the potential to become. But we are playing better basketball.''

Shaquille O'Neal, who needed 40 points to retake the NBA scoring lead from Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, finished with 18 points and conceded the scoring title by mere tenths of a point.

Even with a four-game winning streak, with two routs of Portland, Rambis is keeping the Lakers' focus on simple day-to-day progress.

``We need to improve at both ends of the court,'' he said. ``We're a young team that's still coming together and still has areas to improve upon. It's not just one area. We have the potential to be better in both areas.''

SECOND SEASON

Here are the matchups for the NBA playoffs, with seeds and standings:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. Team W L Pct GB

1 San Antonio  37 13 .740 --

2 Portland 35 15 .700 2

3 Utah 37 13 .740 --

4 Lakers 31 19 .620 6

5 Houston 31 19 .620 6

6 Sacramento 27 23 .540 10

7 Phoenix 27 23 .540 10

8 Minnesota 25 25 .500 12

(1) S. Antonio vs. (8) Minnesota

(2) Portland vs. (7) Phoenix

(3) Utah vs. (6) Sacramento

(4) Lakers vs. (5) Houston

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. Team W L Pct GB

1 Miami 33 17 .660 --

2 Indiana 33 17 .660 --

3 Orlando 33 17 .660 --

4 Atlanta 31 19 .620 2

5 Detroit 29 21 .580 4

6 Philadelphia 28 22 .560 5

7 Milwaukee 28 22 .560 5

8New York  27 23 .540 6

(1) Miami vs. (8) New York

(2) Indiana vs. (7) Milwaukee

(3) Orlando vs. (6) Philadelphia

(4) Atlanta vs. (5) Detroit

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) Glen Rice, who finished with 40 points, shoots over Portland center Kelvin Cato in the Lakers' 119-91 rout.

Tina Gerson/Daily News

BOX: SECOND SEASON (see text)