Lakers Rout the Portland Suns, as If the Name Matters, 125-101

It would be different, everyone thought, once the Lakers faced a better playoff team than the crippled Phoenix Suns, one that had a fast break instead of one that just broke fast. One like Portland, everyone thought.

Well, everyone was wrong. At least they were wrong Saturday, when the Lakers welcomed the Trail Blazers to the Western Conference semifinals the very same way they said goodby to the Suns.

Phoenix, Portland, only the names changed. Nothing much mattered to the Lakers, who put a 125-101 headlock on the Trail Blazers in front of 13,909 fans at the Forum.

“If we had lost by one point, it would be the same thing,” Portland’s Kiki Vandeweghe said.

Uh, huh, and if this keeps up, which no one really expects, the series will be a worst-of-seven for the Trail Blazers, who said their minds were elsewhere, probably the same place their game was.

“It was devastating,” Trail Blazer Clyde Drexler said. “We didn’t know it would be this bad.”

But the Lakers played as though they expected it to be this good . They began with a 16-4 lead after four minutes and never allowed Portland to get closer than nine points, at the start of the second quarter. What happened was apparent to everyone.

“We got out too fast, too soon,” Laker center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said.

The Lakers led by 28 points at the half, by 29 after three quarters and by 33 early in the fourth quarter, just after Laker Coach Pat Riley pulled his starters.

While the Trail Blazers were still trying to pull themselves together after eliminating Dallas Thursday night, the Lakers had no such hangover from the Phoenix blitz.

The Trail Blazers never recovered from the pounding they took early. Kurt Rambis scored 10 points in the first quarter, apparently going overlooked in Portland’s double-team defensive scheme designed to slow Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy.

Rambis finished with 14 points and led all players with 14 rebounds. Trail Blazer Mychal Thompson blamed his team’s defense.

“We just did a terrible job defensively on all of them,” Thompson said. “We just let them go back-door on us.”

That is not to mention the front door and the side door, neither of which was guarded too well, either.

Before Abdul-Jabbar hit the door after 26 minutes, he had stayed around long enough to get 16 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.

“Kareem . . . should be illegal,” Trail Blazer center Sam Bowie said.

Worthy had 16 points and also managed to do something Portland couldn’t. He took Magic Johnson out of the game. Worthy accidentally hit Johnson on the head with his elbow in the first half when they were both going for a rebound.

“I was kind of dizzy,” said Johnson, who said he felt nothing like Thomas Hearns.

“I wasn’t that knocked out,” he said.

Johnson came back, but the Trail Blazers didn’t.

For a while, it wasn’t clear whether the Trail Blazers had shown up in the first place. The Lakers made good on their intention of working Abdul-Jabbar with Bowie and of working Worthy with Vandeweghe, but the early offense of Rambis was an unexpected bonus.

“A lot of times, people have a tendency to ignore Kurt,” Riley said. “We were aware that Portland was going to double-team Worthy and Kareem, and that’s where Kurt came through. He was left alone and he did the job.”

Riley came into the series carrying a mild concern about his Laker defense. Although rookie guard Steve Colter stung the Lakers for 26 points, they never let Vandeweghe (18 points) get away for very long.

The game was really pretty well decided by halftime. Portland had shot 36% to the Lakers’ 60.4%, and the Lakers found themselves ahead, 73-45.

The Trail Blazers never found themselves at all, especially the guards. Three minutes into the third quarter, Drexler, Darnell Valentine and Jim Paxson were shooting a combined 1 for 21. They finished 6 for 30, and if Colter hadn’t shot 11 for 15, the Trail Blazer backcourt would have been an even bigger washout than it was.

Riley said the Laker defense was responsible, and so did Worthy.

“We kept good pressure on them,” Worthy said. “They didn’t get many good shots. We knew it was going to be important for us to play some good defense. We kept it up and didn’t let them back in.”

The Lakers believe that the Trail Blazers will bounce back. They’re not Phoenix, after all. The Lakers consider Game 2 on Tuesday night to be the key to the series, for they can go to Portland either 2-0 or tied 1-1.

Abdul-Jabbar outplayed Bowie, who was never able to deny offensive position to the Laker center. In 25 minutes, Bowie had seven points and seven rebounds. Trail Blazer forward Kenny Carr finished with 10 rebounds, but he had just seven points.

“If our big men play well, that’s our only chance,” Drexler said.

Laker Notes The dates for the rest of the series have been set. Game 3 is 7:30 p.m. Friday night and Game 4 is 12:30 p.m. Sunday, both in Portland. Game 5 is 7:30 p.m. May 7 in the Forum, Game 6 is 8:30 p.m. May 9 at Portland, and Game 7 is 12:30 p.m. May 11 in the Forum. . . . Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gave Sam Bowie some credit. “They wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Sam,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “How well they do depends on how much he can contribute inside.” . . . Mike McGee made six consecutive free throws, and Pat Riley knows why. “He’s been working with (assistant coach Bill) Bertka, the Shot Doctor,” Riley said. . . . The Lakers had 63 rebounds, their highest total in the four playoff games, and 13 turnovers, their lowest total.