BLAZING A TRAIL; PORTLAND HAS SOARED WITH UNLIKELY `MISFITS'.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

They do not have the top scorer or the best defender. They don't have a Hall of Fame point guard, a dominant big man, a Mailman or Tim Duncan. They don't have much veteran leadership or playoff experience.

But the Portland Trail Blazers are four victories from the NBA Finals thanks to a unique recipe. Take young legs, loads of talent and plenty of attitude, cram it into a happy suit - like the giant cockroach in ``Men In Black'' - and watch it steam into the Western Conference finals, which begin today when the Blazers visit San Antonio.

``Everybody's like, `The Blazers are misfits. They can't do this. They can't do that,' '' Portland guard Damon Stoudamire said. ``But that's our calling card. The way everybody talks about us, the way everybody thinks we can't get it done - this is our way of rubbing it in their face.''

How long will it last? It depends on their heads, because there's nothing wrong with the rest of them.

The Blazers have 10 former lottery picks on the roster, including Stoudamire, guard Isaiah Rider, forwards Rasheed Wallace and Brian Grant, and reserves Walt Williams, Greg Anthony, Jimmy Jackson and Stacey Augmon.

They have the league's best bench, they have a superb front office in general manager Bob Whitsitt and his assistant, Mark Warkentien, and they have the 1999 NBA Coach of the Year, Mike Dunleavy.

Together, the staff and players have prevented Portland's notorious alter-ego - the Trial Blazers, the Jail Blazers, the Bail Raisers - from taking harmony hostage.

``The thing about this group is we genuinely like each other, and that's rare,'' Anthony said. ``It's a strange makeup. Lots of our guys have been other places, but there's a real camaraderie. That allows you to grow on the court and trust each other in tough situations.''

All the right moves

Astute personnel moves enabled Portland to avoid the down cycles that claimed Boston, Detroit and Chicago when their championship windows closed. Finalists in 1992, the Blazers are participating in their league-high 17th-consecutive postseason.

But in the NBA, being mediocre is worse than being bad, and the Blazers spent most of the '90s in purgatory: too good for the lottery, not good enough to survive the first round. They went seven years without home-court advantage.

The climb began in 1994, when owner Paul Allen hired Whitsitt to design the renovation. Whitsitt had spent the previous eight seasons building Seattle into a championship contender, and he immediately deployed the same strategy in Portland: acquire as much talent, and as many interchangeable parts, as the salary cap allowed.

If necessary, sacrifice need for talent, personality for performance.

Despite not drafting higher than 17th, Whitsitt began acquiring talent. He signed Anthony, Grant and Jackson as free agents. He traded for Augmon, Rider, Stoudamire, Wallace, Williams, Carlos Rogers and Bonzi Wells.

The happy locker room comes not from individual leaders but from the collective predicament: They have no choice.

Whitsitt rescued Jackson from Golden State, his fourth team in three years. He plucked Wallace from his referee-baiting days in Washington and he snatched Augmon from Doug Collins' doghouse in Detroit.

Anthony had a reputation as a shoot-first point guard when Whitsitt grabbed him off free agency. Rider was Rider when Whitsitt scooped him out of Minnesota. In 1998, Whitsitt saved Stoudamire and Williams from their expansion misery in Toronto.

If they falter again, if Whitsitt deems them unfit for his experiment, they may not get another chance - and certainly not for a title contender. It's enforced harmony, but it's better than no harmony at all.

``It's about collecting the chips,'' Warkentien said. ``The nature of the leadership is very aggressive. Bob and Mr. Allen understand risk and reward. They prefer the aggressive move to the safe one. Bob likes guys who need to win to save their careers.''

Whitsitt's staff moves have been equally astute. In 1994, he hired Warkentien, a superb talent evaluator who helped collect the chips in Seattle. In October, Whitsitt promoted Warkentien to assistant GM and spent $800,000 on highly-regarded assistant Tim Grgurich.

(Grgurich and Warkentien were assistants together under Jerry Tarkantian at Nevada-Las Vegas. They recruited and developed the legendary Runnin' Rebels teams of the early '90s - teams that included Anthony and Augmon.)

Dunleavy arrived in 1997, after five disappointing seasons in Milwaukee. With his reputation at stake - Whitsitt likes desperate coaches, too - Dunleavy has massaged the insolence, convincing the Blazers that ego subversion is the fastest path to success. During his Milwaukee experience, Dunleavy evidently kept one eye on Chicago coach Phil Jackson, whose ego management became the paradigm.

``Irrespective of what we do off the court, Dunleavy tries to be professional on it,'' Anthony said. ``He hasn't let any external factors affect what we do on the court. He's a lot like Tark. He treats us like men. He allows us to be individuals.''

Dunleavy's approach and Whitsitt's presence have not eradicated the tumult. Anthony got into a shouting match with Jazz owner Larry Miller during a regular-season game in Utah. Rider has argued with Dunleavy about playing time. Stoudamire loathes sharing fourth-quarter minutes with Anthony, and the mercurial Wallace reportedly practiced in Timberland boots one day.

But so far, Dunleavy has doused every flame.

``These guys have everybody, their friends, their people, chipping away at them when their minutes aren't big,'' Dunleavy said. ``I've told them they have to be above it. We've had some bumps, but so far they've been little bumps.''

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL

No. 1 SAN ANTONIO (37-13 regular season, 7-1 playoffs)

vs. No. 2 PORTLAND (35-15 regular season, 7-2 playoffs)

Season series: Spurs won 3-1. All the games were very close, with San Antonio winning the final three meetings - all in the final 2-1/2 weeks of the season. Tim Duncan came up big down the stretch in two of those victories. Isaiah Rider sat out Portland's only victory because of an NBA suspension, and Arvydas Sabonis had a big fourth quarter in that game.

Spurs edge: Offensive aggression, home court, recent history, Duncan. San Antonio will constantly drive the ball toward the basket, and has had success drawing contact from Portland's big men. If the series goes seven games, four will be played before crowds of about 30,000 at the Alamodome, where the teams met twice among their three games in the final 2-1/2 weeks of the season - all Spurs victories. Duncan is having a superb postseason, drawing raves from everybody who watched him dismantle the Timberwolves and Lakers.

Blazers edge: Frontline size, perimeter defense, depth, 3-point shooting. The front line of Sabonis, Rasheed Wallace and Brian Grant is big enough and strong enough to defend Duncan and David Robinson to a certain degree, and all three players can get the Twin Towers into foul trouble if they are aggressive offensively. Greg Anthony can help contain Avery Johnson, who has hurt Portland in the past, and the Blazers can turn to several 3-point shooters - Jim Jackson, Walt Williams, Rider and Damon Stoudamire - while the Spurs have but two.

Storyline: Small market vs. smaller market, two very talented if underexposed teams who could produce seven riveting, closely contested games.

Prediction: Spurs in 7.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, 3 Boxes

Photo: (Color) Isaiah Rider leads the celebration after Portland disposed of Utah in the second round.

John Gress/Associated Press

Box: (1) BLAZERS SPURS SCHEDULE

(2) HOW THEY WERE BUILT

(3) WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL (See text)