SUDDEN TURN FOR THE WORSE.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

A little humility is one thing. Learning that bullets will not bounce off your chest is sort of required.

And maybe being shown their own mortality could ultimately prove a blessing for the Lakers. They were probably getting too comfortable with their coming greatness, and much too early, and needed the reality check the Spurs provided in Sunday's loss.

But it's one thing to lose to the defending champions at home to snap an 11-game winning streak, and quite another to get slapped silly by the Portland Trail Blazers.

So how about that fourth seed?

The Lakers did not come out Tuesday looking like a team fired up to be in the midst of a wild four-team race for the conference championship.

Maybe the Lakers thought it was going to be easy, but their edge was dull. The great defense, the floor burns, the hustling for the loose balls, the crisp passes, the intensity - all the things that had marked their play during the winning streak were missing.

They not only couldn't leap tall buildings, they could barely get off the ground.

The Spurs made them look human, and the Lakers could not respond. The Blazers made them look soft.

Portland played like the hungrier team, and it paid dividends. Great big, double-digit dividends. Late '90s, dot.com dividends.

The Blazers went on a mind-numbing 25-2 run - including 20 unanswered points - to take a staggering 18-point lead in the first period.

It made for the Lakers' worst quarter of the season. It's one thing to be humbled, and quite another to be totally embarrassed.

Just when the Lakers were feeling so good about themselves, beginning to think they really could be the team they and everyone else has been expecting them to be, they come out looking like a team that would be vulnerable to the eighth seed.

Which is exactly what the Trail Blazers are desperately fighting to become, the final playoff team from the West. They entered Tuesday one of three teams - with Denver and Utah - within a half-game of each other for the West's eighth seed.

The Lakers are playing for bigger stakes, though their play Tuesday never indicated it. Through their own strong play, and a reasonable amount of good fortune, they had briefly climbed atop the Western Conference standings.

Now after their 91-80 loss to Portland they own a two-game losing streak, and with the Kings winning Tuesday, are 1 1/2 games back of Sacramento with five games to play.

Tuesday's loss to the Blazers was damaging for more than just their super-sized egos. They no longer control their fate, and in truth, likely have little chance of now capturing the West.

It would be nice to believe there were lessons learned from Tuesday's effort. It would be nice to believe in the Easter Bunny, too.

In the first half the Lakers turned the ball over 14 times. Passes were forced, mishandled, untouched. The ball might as well have been dipped in butter.

Shaquille O'Neal hit 90 percent of his shots in the first half. Unfortunately, he shot only five times. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant was 4 for 14 from the field on the way to a miserable 5-for-23 night. It's the kind of shooting that tends to be noticed in the Lakers' dressing room.

This very stupid loss can hardly be laid simply at the feet of Kobe. Few Lakers look really interested in giving an all-out effort. The Lakers did manage to turn their play up, but it was only in spurts.

When the Lakers would mount a charge, the Blazers would dig down and answer. The closest the Lakers drew was six points early in the fourth quarter. Then the Blazers answered with an 11-0 run, and that was your game.

A few days ago, the league was all but quivering at the sight of the Lakers. ``Oh, no, it's the real Lakers!'' Have mercy. The thundering herd on hardwood.

Then the Spurs showed they are still very much within reach. Now the Blazers showed they may be within reach of more teams than anyone would have been imagined.