[0] LAKERS' LATE RALLY FALLS FLAT; STANDARD COMEBACK ATTEMPT FALLS SHORT : PORTLAND 88, LAKERS 82.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

For the Lakers, every day brings a new learning experience, and this week they're back in drama class.

They finally put the blockbuster trades and coaching changes and other assorted wackiness behind them, but now the Lakers are improvising their own form of drama - the second-half comeback.

It worked Monday against Vancouver and was spectacularly entertaining Tuesday in Oakland. But it failed Wednesday night against the Pacific Division-leading Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers lost their second game in eight days at the Rose Garden, 88-82.

A night after bouncing back from a 28-point deficit against Golden State, the Lakers again took a double-digit deficit into the final quarter of play. But they rallied furiously and climbed within two points with less than four minutes to go. Then old habits crept back in, from ill-advised 3-pointers to poor rebounding, and the Blazers held on for the win.

For the Lakers, playing their third game in three nights, it was at least an improvement over the 27-point blowout suffered here a week ago. Small consolation though it was.

``We're improving,'' Shaquille O'Neal said after a 25-point, 13-rebound performance. ``We just gotta be smart down the stretch. You know, a couple of bad shots there at the end. We've gotta work it, move the ball until we get a good, high-percentage shot. We can't be shooting with two guys in our face, shooting 3s and all that stuff. That's what I mean by playing smart.''

It's not much of an assumption to say O'Neal's ire was directed at Kobe Bryant, who scored 22 points but made some questionable decisions in the waning moments - the worst a 27-foot airball when the Lakers were trailing by four with more than a minute to go. A 2-pointer would have sufficed.

``You have the opportunity to get real quick 2s, you wanna do that. You don't have to settle for 3s to try and win basketball games when there's plenty of time on the clock,'' coach Kurt Rambis said. ``Veteran people, veteran teams understand that, but you have to develop that poise under fire.''

Bryant pled guilty and said he'll learn from the mistake.

``That just comes with experience,'' he said. ``To tell you the truth, I feel very fortunate, because I tend to learn in clumps. It's not one game or one thing that I learn, it tends to come all at once. Just (have to) learn how to use the clock. I should have gone to the (hoop), drawn a foul or something like that, but you learn.''

Trailing since the opening tip and by 13 early in the fourth, the Lakers went on a 14-3 run, paced by two 3-pointers from Derek Fisher and two buckets from O'Neal, cutting the lead to 78-76 with about three minutes to go.

But the Blazers held off the charge, extending the lead to six on a Damon Stoudamire running jumper that followed Bryant's airball. Bryant nearly atoned by scoring four straight points, but by then the Lakers were forced to foul. Stoudamire and Isaiah Rider combined to hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 43.6 seconds.

Portland's bench was again effective, as Rasheed Wallace led the Blazers with 21 points and had nine rebounds to contribute to a 49-32 team rebounding edge. Stoudamire finished with 15 points.

These late comebacks are habit-forming for the Lakers, in large part because of horrific first quarters. They put themselves in another early hole Wednesday, coughing up five turnovers in the first quarter to fall behind by as many as 15.

``They got off to a great start. . . . That's three games in a row we've had terrible first quarters,'' Robert Horry said. ``We've got to do something about that.''

Losing not only meant falling further behind Portland but a missed opportunity to catch Houston for fourth place in the conference, as the Rockets lost to Dallas. Portland's magic number to clinch the Pacific Division is three.

``We're not trying to catch (Portland),'' Horry said, ``we're just trying to better ourselves.''

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Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) The Lakers' Kobe Bryant soars to the basket over the Blazers' Arvydas Sabonis in the Lakers' loss to Portland.

Jack Smith/Associated Press

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