MONROE: Lakers finally flip the switch

LOS ANGELES

Phil Jackson's idea of flipping the switch to show that things have gotten serious is to pull out the bling-bling. See, he's got 10 NBA championship rings (and one CBA championship ring, but that counts only as bling), and on the day of Game 1 of the playoffs he always pulls out the most recently acquired model and wears it on his right hand. Doesn't like the way it feels. Says it makes handshakes awkward. But it's useful when sending a message. The message to his team this time around: It's finally time to flip on the switch you kept insisting you were going to hit during the season, but never did, which is why you're playing the dangerous, No. 6 Trail Blazers instead of the old-and-in-the-way No. 8 Jazz. I think the Lakers heard what Jackson said. I'm certain they got a look at his right hand. After surviving some inelegant play and shaky shooting to persevere against a tough, physical Blazers team that couldn't shoot straight itself on Sunday, the Lakers look like they understand they're not going to romp through the Western playoffs 11-0, as they did last season en route to their second straight title. I think they know it's time to get down to the dirty work. Of course, all that really matters for the Lakers is whether or not Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant have gotten into playoff mode.

Lakers vs. Blazers
Los Angeles' Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant comment on a 95-87 victory over Portland in Game 1 of their playoff series. Jackson and Bryant know success depends on 'the system' and their opponents play. Watch it!

O'Neal tried to remove any lingering doubt the day before the series began. "This," O'Neal said then, "is the moment we've been waiting for." Those 82 games the Lakers found so boring? Merely five months of inconvenience. The fact they didn't lock up the No. 1 seed in the West or home-court advantage throughout the playoffs? Additional motivation, just as it was last season when they won two games at the Alamodome on their way to a complete humiliation of the No. 1-seeded Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Here's all you needed to see Sunday to know both Lakers stars have their playoff faces screwed on tightly: Both of them flying into the stands after loose balls in the fourth quarter, first Bryant, then O'Neal. True, Shaq got a pretty good nudge from Dale Davis to send him tin cup over tea kettle over the fans in the vanity seats at Staples Center. (No, not Jack and Lou Adler, but some of the lesser lights on the baseline. And please: Don't ask "Jack who?')

Lakers vs. Blazers
Portland's Maurice Cheeks and Scottie Pippen analyze their 95-87 loss to Los Angeles in Game 1 of their first-round series. Cheeks and Pippen attempt to stay focused in the face of a 'seasoned' Lakers squad. Watch it!

It's just part of being Superman, Shaq said, yet another indication he's gotten serious in time to defend the Lawrence O'Brien trophy. O'Neal, who got suspended this season for throwing a roundhouse right that might have decapitated Brad Miller if it hadn't missed by a couple of feet, has vowed to keep his cool during the playoffs because he understands the champs have no shot of three-peating without him. When he finally got to his feet after his cartwheel into the aisle that separates the true glitterati from the hoi polloi at Staples, he walked slowly and calmly back on the court and studiously avoided Davis, the offending Blazer who was on his way to the bench with his sixth foul. Shaq may hate the double- and triple-teaming he is going to face in the playoffs, but he's intent on playing through it. "I'm not really worried about what they're trying to do," O'Neal said. "We just have to keep our composure and not get involved in the antics that they're trying to put us through and just keep playing. "Everything about playing me is illegal because that's the way I put it out to be. The rules and regulations they have set, you have to play me illegal, and that's what they're doing out there. I wouldn't call that defense. I call that b---s--- defense that they're trying to play. "But nothing is going to shake my mentals." At least I think "mentals" is what he said. After repeated replays on my digital recorder, it was either "mentals" or "mentos." I opted for "mentals" because I know The Big Spokesman endorses Nestle's Crunch, not Mentos breath mints. Perhaps a new endorsement awaits. Bryant, Sprite's very own pitch man, didn't need additional motivation any more than O'Neal did, but he got it from Ruben Patterson, the self-proclaimed "Kobe Stopper." Maybe that's why Bryant opted for a new, closely cropped look, shearing his mini-Afro and looking more like he did his rookie season. Whatever the reason, when O'Neal got a gander at the new look, he commented to a teammate: "Samson." Not to fear. There was no biblical loss of power. Bryant busted the Kobe Buster for back-to-back 3-pointers in the first 40 seconds after Patterson entered the game for the first time in the first period. He did get "caught up in the antics" a bit. He forced too many perimeter shots or, as Jackson put it, "he was a little astray." Still, Bryant got to the foul line 13 times and finished with 34 points. And if his intent was to prove to Patterson he could get off a shot on him whenever he wanted, he succeeded. Now he needs to make more than 35 percent of the shots he creates. In many ways Portland is the perfect first-round matchup for the Lakers. The Trail Blazers are a team to be feared, especially in a five-game series. If Mo Cheeks finds a way to force Rasheed Wallace to spend more time in the post and less outside the 3-point line, jacking up trifectas, they can win a game or two in the series. They have some matchup advantages. But they can't stop O'Neal without trying to knock him into the stands. It didn't work Sunday and it won't work in the remainder of the series. Senior writer Mike Monroe can be reached at his e-mail address, mmonroe@foxsports.com.