[0] L.A. AT ITS WORST IN THIRD.

Byline: Steve Dilbeck Staff Writer

It started so slowly, so innocently, no one could have imagined the mayhem that was to follow.

The Lakers had started the third quarter poorly Monday night but were trailing just 56-51 when Blazers guard Steve Smith drove the lane for a routine layup.

Then a jump ball between Shaquille O'Neal and Rasheed Wallace turned into an easy Portland fastbreak. When Wallace drained an 11-foot jumper, things were picking up steam, but still far from nightmare material.

Only it never let up, the flood kept raging, pounding on the Lakers until the Blazers had gone on a stunning 20-0 run.

And that was your game. The Lakers trailed 76-53 at the end of the dismal quarter before finally falling 106-77 in a Game 2 of their playoff series with the Blazers that they might well remember deep into their summer.

``We didn't bring our `A' game tonight,'' O'Neal said.

They didn't bring their ``B'' or ``C'' games, either. It was their worst loss of the year, and that playoff home-court advantage they had fought so hard for during the regular season was gone.

``We didn't lose home-court, we just got beat one basketball game tonight,'' said Lakers guard Ron Harper. ``This series is going to be a dogfight. They're a good team and played a great ballgame. I don't think we lost anything, we just got beat.''

The third quarter was an absolute Lakers meltdown. No element of their game emerged untarnished. No area where they weren't completely beaten.

The Blazers exposed L.A. weaknesses, exploited their strengths and just generally took charge.

Wallace drained 3-pointers, controlled the boards and looked at the officials anyway he wanted.

The 6-foot-8 Smith posted up Kobe Bryant like he was a dwarf, not 6-7. Scottie Pippen drove to the basket like days of old. Greg Anthony came off the bench and made like Oscar Robertson.

All while the Lakers fumbled and bumbled through their worst quarter of the season, their feet stuck in something unseen.

``They came out very aggressively and packed it in,'' said Lakers guard Brian Shaw. ``We settled for too many outside shots and dug a deep hole for ourselves we couldn't get out of.''

The Lakers hit just 2 of 15 field goals in the period. They were outrebounded 14-5. They turned the ball over five times.

They were beaten to loose balls. Jump balls turned into Portland fastbreak baskets. They were outworked, outhustled, outpassed and just plain outplayed.

They were everything they hoped they would never be in the postseason.

The Lakers scored just eight points in the entire quarter, matching their team-low for a playoff game.

``We lost the ballgame, that's all I know,'' Harper said.

``You lose, you lose. I think they found somehow to put five men downlow. We had guys who didn't hit shots. They had a good game plan and guys who hit shots.''