CAN THESE TEAMS PIECE IT TOGETHER? SHORTENED SEASON CREATES UNDERACHIEVERS' SHOWDOWN.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

If the NBA needed, for posterity, a snapshot of what a thrown-together, raggedy-edged, lockout-shortened season looks like, the commissioner might want a group portrait of today's playoff opponents at the Forum.

The Lakers and Houston Rockets are the perfect poster children for a season gone horribly wrong.

Remember when the Lakers were the darlings of the Western Conference? Remember when the Rockets put together a Hall-of-Fame-credentialed trio and inspired championship dreams in Houston?

That was 50 games ago. A really quick 50 games. And neither the Lakers nor the Rockets, who begin their first-round playoff series this afternoon, held up under the frenetic pace.

It took time for Scottie Pippen to find his way in the Rockets offense. It took time for Houston's rookie guards, Cuttino Mobley and Michael Dickerson, to adjust to the NBA and to their legendary frontcourt mates.

It took time for the Lakers to adjust to a coaching change, to the addition of Dennis Rodman, to life with Rodman, and then to life without Rodman. Not to mention a blockbuster trade that removed two key pieces (Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell) and added two new faces in Glen Rice and J.R. Reid.

Time? Who had time? Not in a 90-day season short on practices and off-days. So two teams labeled ``underachievers'' and seeded in the middle of the pack with 31-19 records meet to see which is closer to forging a cohesive unit out of this mess.

If the playoffs are the ``second season,'' brimming with new opportunities, these are two teams eager to start over.

``Now,'' Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said, ``we're wiping the slate clean.''

And making no excuses for how they got here.

``If we could have started two rookies and made a trade for another guy who played a different style of basketball and just ran through the league and wound up kicking everybody's butt, I wouldn't have a lot of respect for the league,'' Tomjanovich said. ``The league has established teams. We've had our moments, but it's not realistic to say you're gonna put seven (new) guys on this team and two of the rookies are gonna start and just kick everybody's butts. I like this team, but something like that is just unrealistic.''

The same, of course, could be said for the Lakers.

``In that respect, we're similar,'' coach Kurt Rambis said. ``They've had lineup changes like us, they've added a bunch of new ballplayers like us. . . . Anytime you make changes with a ballclub, the teams have to be allowed time to grow and develop together. When you make a lot of changes, especially in the season we just had, it wasn't conducive to making changes.''

So you have the Rockets losing twice to the lowly Mavericks and once to the Clippers in the final weeks of the season. And you have the Lakers getting routed by 20-plus in San Antonio, Portland and Houston in April.

But both teams have also shown signs of righting themselves. The Lakers won their last four games of the season in impressive fashion, routing Portland twice. The Rockets, 22-point winners over the Lakers on April 26, closed out with victories over the Clippers, Minnesota and Denver.

Rice found his way in the Lakers offense, scoring 62 points over the last two games, and the Lakers, who used 13 starting lineups, managed to stick with one for the final 10 games. Pippen got more comfortable in the Rockets' sets, and rookies Mobley (37 starts) and Dickerson (50 starts) have come on strong in the last two weeks.

But as both teams have proven, you can't judge future performances based on the past. Their outlooks change almost daily. So throw out the Lakers' two defeats of Houston in February and forget, too, the Rockets' pasting of the Lakers two weeks ago.

``All of that is kind of for naught, because (now) we're 0-0,'' the Lakers' Derek Fisher said.

And the only question left is which Lakers and Rockets teams decide to attend the series.

``I think the team that you'll see (today) will be the real one,'' Fisher said. ``I don't really feel like the way we we played to start the season, or the way we played in the middle or even the way we played last week will determine how we play. I really feel like how we come out (today) will set the tone in Game 1. We understand the importance of home-court advantage. Right now, we're really confident, and I feel like the team that comes out (today) will be the one that you'll see in the playoffs.''

LAKERS vs. HOUSTON

Centers: L.A.'s Shaquille O'Neal and Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon, two of the best ever at their position, bring contrasting styles to the court - O'Neal bruising his way to the rim, Olajuwon more likely to hit the short-range jumper. Both get their points, but at this stage of their careers, O'Neal prevails head-to-head. In three meetings this season, O'Neal averaged 23.7 points and 11.0 rebounds to Olajuwon's 15.7 and 7.7. Edge: Lakers.

Forwards: This is probably where the series is decided. The Rockets' Charles Barkley is too strong for either J.R. Reid or Robert Horry to handle one-on-one, and Scottie Pippen's athleticism could give the slower Glen Rice fits (assuming Kobe Bryant doesn't take Pippen instead). But if Rice can simply outscore Pippen, and the Lakers give Reid enough support when Barkley posts up, they might pull a draw out of this. Edge: Rockets.

Guards: Youth rules here. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher are both in their third seasons, but each has two years of playoff seasoning. Houston features the all-rookie tandem of Cuttino Mobley (point) and Michael Dickerson (off); both have the ability to get on a shooting streak, averaging 20 points a game combined, but Dickerson has an uphill battle containing Bryant. Edge: Lakers.

Bench: Houston's Antoine Carr killed the Lakers when he was with Utah, but his production is down this season. The Rockets' Sam Mack and Othella Harrington average better than nine points each, but the talented Harrington has played just two games since returning from foot surgery. The Lakers bench is deep, if unpredictable, but three former starters have the ability to change the flow of a game - Rick Fox (10.3 ppg in April), Robert Horry (7.2 ppg in April) and Derek Harper (6.9 ppg this season). Edge: Lakers.

Coach: Rudy Tomjanovich coached the Rockets to two NBA championships during the Jordan-free years of 1994-95 and has won 61.7 percent of his games in eight seasons. Kurt Rambis' resume includes both the words ``rookie'' and ``interim'' next to his head coach title. He is coaching for his job. Rambis took over the 6-6 Lakers in late February and guided them through much drama to a 25-13 record (.658) in the final 38 games. Edge: Rockets.

Overall: Both teams feature a trio of stars - Barkley-Olajuwon-Pippen vs. O'Neal-Bryant-Rice - and both have fallen well short of high expectations this season. The Lakers won the regular-season series 2-1, but both wins came before the Eddie Jones-Glen Rice trade that reshaped them and sent them into a midseason identity crisis. Houston crushed the Lakers by 22 points two weeks ago. But the Lakers have won four straight since then and appear to be on the right track. The Rockets lost to the Clippers and twice to Dallas down the stretch.

Prediction: Lakers, 3-1.

- Howard Beck

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1--Color) Kobe Bryant and the Lakers faltered in midseason . . .

(2--Color) . . . then surged at season's end, as did Scottie Pippen and the Rockets.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

BOX: LAKERS vs. HOUSTON (see text)