LAKERS NOTEBOOK: `UNDERDOG' STATUS EMBRACED.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Clip and save the following, because you might not see it again: The Lakers not only acknowledge that Portland has become the favorite in the West, they seem to endorse the notion.

``As far as athletically, we all know that they're a superior athletic team than we are,'' Kobe Bryant said Wednesday. ``As a matter of fact, they have better players than we do.''

The Lakers and Trail Blazers meet Saturday at Staples Center to open the Western Conference finals, a meeting that has long seemed predestined. The Lakers won the regular season with a 67-15 record, and the Blazers' 59-23 mark was second best in the NBA.

They split the season series at two games apiece, and each won on the other's home floor. But the Lakers have suffered more setbacks in the playoffs than the Blazers, and Portland boasts a deep roster that Lakers coach Phil Jackson has termed ``the best team money can buy.''

``It's a challenge,'' Bryant said, ``because even though we have home- court advantage, we seem to be the underdogs right now, which is perfect for me, it's perfect for us.''

That might be the Lakers' first battle cry in this series.

``My staff reported to me today that basically on TNT and TBS and whatever else that the (Blazers are) odds-on favorites; the experts say that Portland's got the depth and the matchup strengths,'' Jackson said. ``I think Portland underachieved this year. This is a team we thought we were going to have to win probably 65 games to win first place. And they fell off and had a little spell in March after we beat them up there (Feb. 29). Yet they rallied, came to life during the playoffs, played real well.''

--Home cookin': So far, the Lakers have made their home-court advantage hold up - they are 6-0 at Staples Center in the postseason, including series clinchers over Sacramento and Phoenix.

Portland is actually the last team to beat the Lakers at full strength here, on Jan. 22.

``I think it's difficult to shoot in the building,'' Bryant said. ``Earlier in the year, we had trouble shooting in the building because of the dimensions of it. Other than that, I think our energy is just a lot higher here at Staples.

``This is our home. That's what we've kind of been trying to build up to early in the year, having Staples become like our home and have people come into the Staples Center feeling intimidated and scared to play because we've defended our home court all year long.''LOS ANGELES LAKERS vs. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 

--Centers: Portland's Arvydas Sabonis has a 7-foot-3, 290-pound frame to bang against Shaquille O'Neal, and more importantly, he has plenty of help. MVP O'Neal averaged just 20.5 points (9 below his average) against Portland this season as he fought through crowds of Sabonis, Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal and Brian Grant. It's unlikely O'Neal will get loose for 37 points a night, as he did for the first three games against Phoenix. Sabonis has creaky knees but can get physical and has a nice outside jumper. He averaged 10.8 points and 7.0 rebounds against the Lakers this season.

--Edge: Lakers.

--Forwards: As usual, this is an uphill battle for the Lakers. Portland's Rasheed Wallace is younger, quicker and stronger than the A.C. Green-Robert Horry tandem, and he averaged 17 points and 9.3 rebounds against them this season. Horry and Green's job will be simply to slow him down and, in Horry's case, make some outside shots to keep Wallace from doubling O'Neal. Glen Rice has held up well defending Scottie Pippen (14.5 points vs. Lakers). Rice shot just 33.3 percent and averaged 11.8 points against Portland.

--Edge: Blazers.

--Guards: The Blazers' Damon Stoudamire is one of the speediest playmaker-scorers in the league, and Kobe Bryant will have his hands full - and an oxygen tank standing by. But the Lakers can also exploit the matchup when the 5-10 Stoudamire guards the 6-7 Bryant. After missing the first two games against Portland, Bryant averaged a team-best 24.3 points and 55.6 percent shooting in the final two meetings. Steve Smith scored 27 points in the Blazers' Jan. 22 win at Staples, but he shot just 38.2 percent in the season series. Ron Harper will probably have ex-teammate Pippen draped on him to slow the Lakers offense.

--Edge: Lakers.

--Bench: No one has a deeper, more experienced group than Portland. Guard Greg Anthony and forward Detlef Schrempf are veterans who could start for other teams. Forward Brian Grant brings the kind ofrebounding and energy the Lakers sometimes lack. And youngsters Bonzi Wells and Jermaine O'Neal are potential budding stars. The Lakers will expect the usual from Robert Horry, Brian Shaw and Rick Fox - play tough defense, grab some rebounds, get the ball to Shaq and Kobe and hit the open jumper now and then.

--Edge: Blazers.

--Coach: Phil Jackson's steadiness has characterized the Lakers' postseason, and his players have followed his lead. They pushed past two losses to Sacramento to win in the first round, then overcame a horribly embarrassing rout at the hands of Phoenix to close out the Suns, with hardly a flinch from Jackson, the NBA's all-time winningest coach. Mike Dunleavy coached the Blazers to the league's second-best record (59-23), and after struggling through March, Portland has regained a dominant look in the playoffs. A footnote: Dunleavy coached the Lakers in their 1991 Finals loss to Jackson's Bulls.

--Edge: Lakers.

--Overall: These teams split the regular-season series, and each won on the other's home court. Every meeting has been a defensive struggle - neither team scored more than 100 points in any game and they averaged 89 points each. The Lakers won the biggest of the four meetings - a 90-87 victory at the Rose Garden on Feb. 29 that sent the Blazers into a tailspin and propelled the Lakers to the league's best record. Portland's athleticism, youth and depth will provide the Lakers their greatest test of the season, but the Lakers should squeak by on the strength of Kobe, Shaq and home-court advantage.

--Prediction: Lakers, 4-3.

- Howard Beck

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Box: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trailblazers (see text)