Harper had ensured that the Lakers would finish off the Suns in the fifth game of the series at Staples Center. And he said the powerful Chicago Bulls of yore would have creamed the Suns by a couple hundred points.

Turns out the Lakers hardly needed that kind of offense to dispatch the Suns. In fact, most of the time it looked like they didn't even need a fifth player on the court in an 87-65 flattening of Phoenix that was hardly that close.

Harper made a similar comment before the Lakers closed out the Sacramento Kings in the first round with a 27-point whipping here. Harper was so confident Tuesday morning, he told teammate Rick Fox to call an ace golfing pal of his and set a Wednesday tee time for the threesome.

"They obviously felt like they were the ones up 3-1 (in the series) and they wanted to make us feel the pain again for Sunday," Fox said. "But we brought the pain, like 'Harp' said."

Harper's words were a bit stronger.

"Like I said we would, we beat the (expletive) out of them," Harper said. "Go ask them how they feel about it. Right away, we played good defense and did what we had to do. I know my teammates, and I knew we were playing at home. The guys just felt good."

Actually, the Lakers' defense was great, and it had to be. Shaquille O'Neal went only 7-for-19 from the field and Kobe Bryant was 6-for-16, but the Suns connected on only 29 percent (23-for-80) of their attempts in the game.

"Unfortunately, we proved 'Harp' right," said Suns center Luc Longley, a former teammate of Harper's in Chicago.

"And," Harper said, "I'm looking forward to playing my boy 'S.P.' "

Pippen is now with the Portland Trail Blazers, who visit Staples Center on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT for the start of the eagerly anticipated best-of-7 Western Conference finals. Game 2 is Monday at 6:30 p.m.

"We have to play great every game," said Harper, choosing not to make any predictions just yet. "(The Blazers) have size and speed, and I think it'll be a great series. They have something to prove, and so does our team."

The Lakers proved that so early Tuesday, legendary broadcaster Chick Hearn could have put this one away in the fridge -- or, more appropriately, in the freezer next to the ice cubes and frozen peas -- early in the second quarter.

Robert Horry had just nailed a 3-point shot to give the Lakers a 26-16 lead, and Rodney Rogers acted as if the basketball were a grenade when he was fed it at the other end of the court.

The Lakers swooped up the feeble turnover, Harper sailed in for a fastbreak layup and the padding was double digits the rest of the way.

Rodney Rogers wears a stunned expression as the Suns are blown out in Game 5.(AP)

Rogers, a former Clipper, might have earned sixth-man-of-the-year honors in Arizona, but put him in Los Angeles and he mirrors the inept organization for which he once played. Apparently, the suffering doesn't end when a former Clipper discards the goofy red, white and blue uniform once and for all.

Rogers went 6-for-24 from the field in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinal series here, collecting eight fouls and six turnovers. Tuesday, he hit three of eight attempts. All told, Rogers averaged just eight points in the three games at Staples Center. Worse, his team started its horizontal spin right when he did, and there was no pulling out of it.

In Los Angeles, Rogers plays as if he wears oven mitts. Hopefully, he'll get offseason work as a juggler. Halfway through the second quarter, he flung a down-court pass to Shawn Marion that sailed more than 100 feet. The court is 94 feet long.

The Arena League Cobras in the Valley of the Sun might value such a powerful arm.

On the Suns' next possession, Rogers cut through the lane and watched a keen interior pass bounce off his left hand and out of bounds. At the end of the third quarter, he pulled up on a 3-point attempt only to fling it down low to Cliff Robinson, who had already turned in to get rebounding position.

By then, the Clipper affliction had spread to the rest of the Suns, easily enabling the Lakers to stretch their playoff record at home to 6-0.

Phoenix shot only 12 percent in the second quarter for a paltry nine points, and its 23 points at the half were the lowest in a playoff half in NBA history. Portland had held that distinction with only 24 at Utah on May 5, 1996.

"You hate to have your worst game of the season your last game of the season," said Phoenix coach Scott Skiles. "For it to end like this, on a night when I don't think the Lakers were great ... we just could not make a shot."

Los Angeles and Portland split their four-game season series. The last of those was one of the most significant regular-season games in league history on Feb. 29, which marked the first time two teams with 11-game winning streaks played each other.

The Lakers pulled off a 90-87 victory by playing efficiently and within themselves on offense, and limiting the Blazers to 40 percent shooting on their own Rose Garden court. Pippen was particularly ineffective, sinking only three of his 10 3-point attempts.

Portland, on the other hand, is one of only five teams to beat the Lakers on their own court this season. With Harper holding his tongue for now, the Western Conference finals promise to be interesting.