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--> --> Lakers' Kobe Bryant drives against Trail Blazers'Damon Stoudamire during the second half in this April game. AP Blazers take on world champs TUALATIN (AP) - The Portland Trail Blazers open the season Tuesday night against familiar tormentors - the Los Angeles Lakers and center Shaquille O'Neal. Unlike recent years, however, when the Lakers routinely got the best of the Blazers, Portland will be able to use new rules to defend Shaq. Starting this season, the NBA is allowing defenses to double-team players who don't have the ball, a tactic that would have resulted in a violation before. Whether double-teaming O'Neal or using a zone defense makes any difference in Tuesday night's game at Staples Center is another matter. "We're going to try it," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said of the zone. "The other things haven't worked against Shaq, so we'll try something new against him." In O'Neal's five seasons in Los Angeles, the Lakers have eliminated Portland from the playoffs four times. In Game 7 of the 2000 conference finals, the Lakers rallied from 15 points down to win; the Blazers were beaten in the first round the other three times, including last season. Counting last season's 3-0 playoff sweep, O'Neal averaged 28.7 points and 14.9 rebounds in seven games against the Blazers. "We know this is a team we're going to have to face to get where we need to get, and now's as good a time as any to start it off," said Dale Davis, who squared off against Shaq in 2000 when the Pacers lost to the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Arvydas Sabonis' decision not to re-sign with Portland leaves Davis as the starting center and pits him against O'Neal again. Davis often was matched up with O'Neal last season, but the Blazers repeatedly complained that O'Neal was being allowed to shove defenders out of the way. "At times I played him well, at times I think they let us play," Davis said. "My main thing is, (if) he's going to be in there pushing, we want to be able to do the same thing. If we can do that, I think we can contain him, but as far as stopping him, I don't think anybody can stop him." Portland also will be without one of its best reserves, small forward Ruben Patterson, who is serving a five-game league suspension for his modified guilty plea to an attempted rape charge. Patterson was the Blazers' leading scorer during the preseason, averaging 16 points. Bonzi Wells, who has struggled for nearly seven months to come back from a torn ligament in his left knee, will be on the active roster for the game but probably won't play, Cheeks said. "We obviously are not going to be at full strength, but we have to play with who we have, and I think we'll go in there and we'll play as hard as we can with the players we have," Cheeks said. "When we get back to full strength, we'll play even harder." Last year these same two teams opened the season against each other at the Rose Garden, and the Lakers won 96-86 behind 36 points from O'Neal. Tuesday night's game will feel much different. Not only will the Lakers receive their second set of championship rings during a pregame ceremony, the Blazers will be the underdog instead of the Lakers' near-equals. "We know that they're probably a little bit ahead of us, due to the fact that they're the same team that won the championship, and we're under a new coach and everything," Scottie Pippen said. "But we feel like we're ready." Pippen said he thinks the team can finish in the top three or four teams in the Western Conference, after slumping to seventh last April. But with so many changes, the Blazers were predictably erratic in seven exhibition games. They won four, but the only convincing victory was against Memphis in the exhibition finale. "It's nothing, really, to hang your hat on," Pippen said. "We haven't gotten out of the blocks yet. You never know. I hope we can get off to a good start." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing