PORTLAND, April 29 -- Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant sent once-powerful Portland into what should be a tumultous offseason as the Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the Western Conference semifinals Sunday with a 99-86 victory over the Trail Blazers.
Los Angeles produced its first playoff series sweep in 10 seasons.
After losing to the Lakers in an excruciating Game 7 in last year's conference finals, the Trail Blazers loaded up with star players, adding forwards Shawn Kemp and Dale Davis and guard Rod Strickland to an already talented roster.
On March 3, Portland led the West with a 42-18 mark before its chemistry imploded and its season unraveled. Kemp entered a drug rehabilitation program, guard Bonzi Wells went down with a torn ACL and forward Rasheed Wallace was suspended for throwing a towel in the face of teammate Arvydas Sabonis.
"In the history of this league, there has never been a team of five superstars who has won (the title)," O'Neal said.
The Blazers lost 14 of their last 22 regular-season games to fall to seventh in the West. The meltdown continued in the playoffs as Wallace continued to amass technical fouls. The team had no answers for O'Neal and Bryant and resorted to chippy play in losing the first two games of the quarterfinal series.
"It's pretty embarrassing but I just move on," said Blazers forward Detlef Schrempf, who came out of retirement midway through the season. "I don't think we really had a shot the way we played at the end of the season. You can have a lot of talent but you just can't throw it together and expect to win."
With Davis and guard Stacey Augmon suspended for their roles in an incident in Game 2, the final result was inevitable. The only difference in this game was that the Blazers went down with a little dignity.
"It's extremely disappointing for everyone on our team, the organization and our city," said Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy, whose job may be in jeopardy. "We played at a high level for a good portion of the year and the last part of the year, we didn't. There are a lot of reasons maybe why but who knows the reality of it? We just didn't do it."
"There are a multitude of reasons," Blazers guard Greg Anthony said. "Right now is not the time to try and decipher what the real cause was because what we do is very emotional business. It's very intense."
O'Neal scored 25 points and Bryant added 22 for the Lakers, who never trailed in the second half and swept a playoff series for the first time since eliminating Houston in three games in 1991.
"Last year we had a couple of series that we're up 2-0 and we weren't able to close out right away," Lakers guard Brian Shaw said. "Everyone was focusing on closing this series today."
The second-seeded Lakers had their own problems earlier this season but have sorted them out at the right time. They have won 11 in a row and await the winner of the Sacramento-Phoenix series.
"As the defending champs, we're the team to beat," O'Neal said. "I'm not going to say anything that will inspire anyone else we will meet in the playoffs."
The Lakers also are in the midst of a very favorable schedule. This game was their first venture outside Los Angeles since April 8 and they figure to be at home another two weeks as they host the first two games of the next series, which will start no earlier than Sunday.
Some Blazers fought to the very end. Guards Damon Stoudamire and Steve Smith scored 25 points each and were behind a rally in the third quarter that got Portland within a point. Others gave up as forwards Wallace and Scottie Pippen combined to shoot seven of 32.
"We all should feel some sort of responsibility for what went down here," Stoudamire said.
Stoudamire scored 17 points in the first half, giving Portland a 37-31 lead with 7:26 left in the second quarter before Los Angeles took the lead for good with a 13-2 run featuring eight points from Bryant.
Two free throws by Rick Fox gave the Lakers a 44-39 lead with 3:48 remaining. In the final seconds of the first half, a backcourt foul by Pippen -- his third -- gave Derek Fisher two free throws and Los Angeles a 54-47 advantage.
The Lakers saw their lead cut to 67-66 on Smith's three-pointer with 4:49 left in the third period. Fisher answered with a three-pointer and Los Angeles rebuilt the lead to 79-72 entering the final 12 minutes.
Arvydas Sabonis opened the fourth quarter with a hook, but the Lakers responded with a 12-2 burst. O'Neal started it with a pair of hoops, Fisher made a three-pointer and Bryant made a jumper and two free throws for a 91-76 lead with 7:15 remaining. The Blazers got no closer than 11 points thereafter.
