RESERVE JUDGMENT OFTEN-DISPARAGED LAKERS BENCH HAS FARED WELL AGAINST BLAZERS.

Byline: Steve Dilbeck Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Have you heard? The really big problem with the Lakers is they lack support.

Not the kind from muted fans or a creaky floor, but the type offered from their backups. The guys doing pine time, their supporting cast.

It's been the big knock on the Lakers all season. Great Big Three, nice lineup, weak bench.

It's a wonder Shaquille O'Neal can stand at all, given that supposed weak support. And it might be best to send those sympathy cards now because the Lakers are about to open the Western Conference Finals Saturday against the deepest team in the NBA.

The Portland Trail Blazers have what is generally regarded as the most talented and valuable bench in the league.

``I've been saying all year, Portland has two teams,'' O'Neal said.

As if their first team wasn't scary enough, the Blazers come back at you with Brian Grant, Detlef Schrempf, Stacy Augmon, Greg Anthony - guys who have all started for other teams - and explosive Bonzi Wells.

The Lakers counter with . . . who were those guys again?

``It's not a new insult,'' said Lakers reserve Rick Fox. ``We've heard it all year. We're the weak link on a 67-win team. You roll with it and accept what the view of us is from the outside.''

The Lakers bench is led by Robert Horry - who's actually playing more minutes in the playoffs than starters Ron Harper and A.C. Green - Brian Shaw, Derek Fisher and Fox.

A nice enough bunch, but they lack the dramatics of their Portland counterparts. The theory goes, if the Lakers and Blazers starters play evenly, Portland's bench will be the difference.

Of course, this opposition's-bench-is-gonna-kill-'em routine was the same refrain heard by previous playoff opponents Sacramento and Phoenix.

``Let them keep saying that,'' Shaw said. ``That kind of gives us an advantage because when you expect so much from the bench and they don't produce, you're missing something you counted on.

``People don't expect much from our bench, so we do something and it's a bonus for us.''

If the Lakers' backups privately chafe at the little recognition they receive, publicly they claim it has a definite upside.

``I think it's best kept that way,'' Fox said. ``I'd rather be disrespected and prove people wrong, than respected to the point we're not allowed to be the sneaking, conniving, menacing bench that we are at times.

``We sneak up and bite teams in the butt because of their lack of respect for us.''

It helps being overlooked when you play in the shadow of superstars O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, but here's a surprising bit of news: In the four times the two teams met in the regular season, the Lakers' bench actually outscored the Blazers' vaunted bench in every game.

Overall, the L.A. reserves outscored Portland's 101-67 in the four games. Even discounting the 23 points Bryant scored when he came off the bench in the second meeting, the Lakers' reserves were more productive.

Indeed, the Blazers tend to rely on their starters against the Lakers more than most realize. In Portland's second and most impressive victory over the Lakers at Staples Center, its reserves scored just four points.

In the playoffs thus far, too, numbers-wise the Lakers bench has been holding its own against the Blazers.

Portland has gotten an average of 24.3 points, 13.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists from its bench in the playoffs. The Lakers' reserves have averaged 26.3 points, 13.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists.

And when the Lakers have been at their best in the playoffs - home games against the Kings, Games 3 and 5 against the Suns - their bench usually came up big.

But the Lakers' supporting cast is not always consistent. One game Horry, Fox, Shaw and Fisher are bombing away from outside, the next they're almost invisible. Fox said when teams elect to swarm at O'Neal or double Bryant, opportunities are created for others.

``Opportunities we take advantage of one game, won't be there the next,'' he said. ``And that's when you see Shaq go for 45 points and Kobe get 38, because they're there sitting with us.''

The road has been more troubling for the L.A. reserves, but Lakers coach Phil Jackson normally elects to use his bench less away from Staples. His starters have averaged 11 1/2 minutes more per game on the road in the playoffs than at home. Using starters more on the road or in the playoffs, though, doesn't figure to negate Portland's bench depth.

``No, because what they do is come at you in waves,'' Bryant said. ``You have your starters out there for the majority of the game, but when Portland goes to their bench, they bring in another energy. It's kind of like a boost of energy, fresh energy.

``I think it's going to play a crucial part of the series because you have to match their intensity, match their energy. Our bench might get less minutes, but those lesser minutes are going to be very critical to the series.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- color) ROBERT HORRY

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) BRIAN GRANT

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

(3) Lakers forward Robert Horry, shown making a layup, is a vital member of the team's reserve forces against the deep Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Box: Lakers vs. Trailblazers