LOS ANGELES -- It was all too familiar to Scottie Pippen: A team with a powerful one-two punch, a group of supporting players content to stay within their carefully defined roles, a team that -- every time it takes the court -- has confidence in their game.

"Yeah, they have some arrogance about them," Pippen was saying yesterday of the Lakers. "They have that type of swagger like we had with the Bulls -- and they've earned it."

The Lakers took their first step to earning their third straight NBA title on Sunday, beating the Blazers, 95-87, to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five opening round series. And yes, these Lakers played with a bit of a strut-- it's easy with Kobe Bryant's scoring 34 points playing an overall solid floor game, and Shaquille O'Neal is adding 25 points while dominating the middle. But even if the Lakers get past this first-round series -- and they should against a Blazers team that is at times clueless on how they want to attack -- Sunday's win proved that this run at a title will not be easy.

It was far from easy yesterday. The Lakers had to survive a first half where -- with the Blazers collapsing around the post -- they couldn't effectively get the ball to Shaq. They had to survive a first half where their three starters not named Shaq or Kobe combined to hit just one field goal. They had to survive a game where they were at times early in the game out hustled by the Blazers, allowing Portland to grab 11 offensive rebounds in the first half. In fact the Blazers -- who led by as many as nine points early -- were within a point after a Derek Anderson free throw in the opening minute of the fourth quarter before the Lakers finally seized control.

"A win is a win," O'Neal said. "It really doesn't matter how many points you win by."

With the win the Lakers have now won 16 straight games at the Staples Center (their last loss here was on Feb. 19 against Boston). And there was a lot that the Lakers did right on Sunday against the Blazers: they protected the ball (10 turnovers against the Blazers -- the Lakers were second in the league in fewest turnovers with just 12.7 during the regular season), they kept the Blazers off the boards in the second half (Portland had just one offensive rebound in the second half, after grabbing 11 in the first), and the league's best team in field goal percentage allowed during the regular season limited the Blazers to just 37 percent shooting. Most importantly, the Lakers got Shaq the ball in better scoring position in the second half -- something that didn't happen much over the first 24 minutes.

"They stepped it up," said Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks. "The second half was indicative of how this team won two championships."

And Bryant yesterday showed signs that he has worked to expand his already nearly complete game. With the defense sagging off of him, Kobe launched seven three-pointers, making two. That may not be a lot for an Allen Iverson or a Jerry Stackhouse, but consider that Kobe made only two of 20 three-point attempts over his final 17 games of the regular season.

"I was just reading the flow of the game," Kobe said. "I'm not going to just go out and jack up three's all game long. Plus, I was working on my outside shot all last week."

Kobe's good enough where he's going to get his. And Shaq, as the game's most dominant player will get his. But for this playoff fun to be successful for the Lakers, their fringe players that are going to have to get the job done.

True, Rick Fox shook off a scoreless first half to hit two huge three-pointers in the second half (his only baskets of the game). And Derek Fisher, with 12 points, also hit several timely baskets.

What may prove to be the Lakers biggest flaw in this championship run is the play at the power forward position -- the strongest position in the Western Conference. Samaki Walker, who starts at power forward, was scoreless in 14 minutes while Robert Horry -- who had been listed as doubtful -- scored just four points. Horry has proven his worth with four championship rings, but if he's ailing Walker must step up his aggressiveness.

Yet even Walker doesn't show up this postseason, Shaq and Kobe are good enough to carry him -- and the team. The question in the greatly improved Western Conference is how far. The Blazers, even in defeat, are still not convinced.

"We can match up with these guys," Ruben Patterson said. "We'll come out with a different approach the next time out."

Jerry Bembry is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine