[0] LOSE ANGELES LAKERS HAVE DROPPED 4 OF 5 PORTLAND 96, LAKERS 86.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. - Some reminders, the Lakers don't need. To wit: No matter how fantastic Kobe Bryant is, they can't win on his hand alone; most nights, they will still live and die on Shaquille O'Neal's shot, and finally, no team in the league swarms and confounds O'Neal quite like the Portland Trail Blazers.

Unneeded reminders, all. But the Lakers got all of it thrown in their face Wednesday night, and a brief dip between winning streaks is now a certifiable losing trend.

The Blazers nullified O'Neal and withstood Bryant's onslaughts and handed the Lakers a 96-86 loss at the Rose Garden, their fourth defeat in the last five games.

Bryant made 13 of 25 shots for 35 points, adding six assists and six rebounds, and he alone kept the Lakers close with late bursts in the second and fourth quarters. But it was not enough, as Rasheed Wallace carried Portland with 25 points and Damon Stoudamire rode a late surge for 21 points.

Before the game, Bryant spent 45 minutes in the training room receiving therapy on his sprained right pinkie. During the game, the finger was held together with gauze and medical tape, but it didn't keep Bryant from holding the Lakers together.

He had to. O'Neal couldn't make a shot and finished the night 7 for 21 from the field. He finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

No one else could find a shooting groove.

The Lakers, who suffered a stunning setback at home to Milwaukee the night before, have had difficulty bouncing back from tough defeats all season.

``I haven't been totally pleased,'' coach Phil Jackson said before tipoff. ``We've had a couple of (losing) streaks here. Two in Texas early to start the season and a couple last week, Golden State and Seattle. Something we avoided a lot last year was having two losses in a row. So tonight's going to be a special challenge in that regard.''

It was tight for most of the game, but there was a time that a game like this might have crushed the Lakers. Coming off a horrible game, playing their rivals, playing at the Rose Garden no less. But the building no longer poses the kind of intimidating force it once did.

After winning four of the last five games here, including two in last season's Western Conference finals, the Lakers have come to feel at home on the Blazers' court.

``It's not daunting,'' Jackson said. ``It's not a daunting atmosphere to win. But we know that right now they're probably a better basketball team than we are right now. They've been on the road more, they've survived on the road. We're just not yet settled in on the road yet and winning games we should.''

In fact, coming into Wednesday's game, the Lakers were 4-5 on the road and unaccustomed to a losing record away from home.

``Just two close games, that's all,'' Jackson said. ``It makes a big difference to have lost at Denver and to have lost the Golden State game. Just those two in itself is enough to change a record, and that's last-second situations.''

The Lakers went 31-10 on the road last season.

``It's just a matter of mentality, knowing the mindset, knowing what to do and playing up to a standard that we have,'' Jackson said.

Early indications pointed to another road loss, and potentially an embarrassing one. The Lakers fell to a 10-point deficit in the first six minutes of the game and trailed continuously for most of the first half.

Then Bryant, sprained pinkie and all, took over. He rattled off nine points in the span of a minute and 16 seconds, bringing the Lakers back from a seven-point deficit and tying the game at 42 with less than a minute to play in the half. The Lakers took their first lead of the game on a pair of Horace Grant free throws, but settled for a 44-44 tie at halftime.

Bryant finished the half with 19 points, on efficient 8-of-13 shooting. O'Neal added 10 points and 11 rebounds but went 4 for 15 from the field and 2 for 8 from the foul line. And they got little help from the role players as the Lakers shot 39.1 percent in the half.

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photo, box

Photo: (color) Shaquille O'Neal, who was 7 for 21 from the field, works against Trail Blazers defender Arvydas Sabonis at the Rose Garden in Portland on Wednesday night.

Jack Smith/Associated Press

Box: GAME RECAP