LAKERS NOTES

The assumption might be that television sets across the country were being clicked off once the Trail Blazers turned Saturday’s Game 1 into something resembling a game of tag--”Gotcha, Shaq, you’re it.”

But that was hardly the case. NBC drew an average overnight rating of 6.2 in the nation’s 48 largest markets, but at the end of the game the rating went to a high of 8.0. The L.A. numbers were a 13.8 rating and a 34 share of the audience for the game and a 17.5 and a 40 for the last half-hour.

“People wouldn’t want to see it every game, but because it was something new, people wanted to watch almost out of curiosity,” NBC’s Bob Costas said. “When I was a kid, if you told me I could see Wilt Chamberlain shoot 20 free throws in the fourth quarter, I would have watched.”

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LAKERS’ BIG 3

O’NEAL

Mon. Playoffs

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23 Points 30.8 12 Rebounds 16.3 4 Assists 3.1

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BRYANT

Mon. Playoffs

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12 Points 23.4 2 Rebounds 4.0 4 Assists 3.7

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RICE

Mon. Playoffs

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6 Points 14.0 2 Rebounds 5.0 1 Assists 2.6

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