Seizing the opportunity to take a commanding lead on the Los Angeles Lakers was never going to be an easy task. But the Blazers were so close to taking control of the Western Conference finals, it was as frustrating as climbing a grassy knoll that was just hit with a rain shower that made it impossible to climb.

"We just let this slip away," Pippen said. "And they know it."

It was as easy as acknowledging the dulcet tones coming from Lakers All-Stars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, as to how and why the Lakers overcame a 14-point deficit to pull out a 93-91 victory in the Rose Garden Friday night.

Playing all 48 minutes, O'Neal scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, after Bryant, who played 47 minutes, had scored 18 of his 25 points in the first half.

"We had to lead the team together," Bryant said. "We weren't going to come out of the game. We weren't going to let our fans down. We weren't going to let our teammates down."

They didn't, especially after Game 2. They were embarrassed by 29 points in Los Angeles as the Blazers erased the home-court advantage with a split, and Friday's game figured to be pivotal. In fact, the Blazers carried the momentum from Game 2 and took a 43-29 lead in middle of the second quarter and appeared on the verge of pulling away again.

But they didn't quite have it. They were too sloppy with the ball and allowed the Lakers to creep back to within 55-45 by the end of the second quarter.

"At halftime, we were feeling pretty fortunate to be down only 10 points," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We got a lot of leadership from our two guys."

O'Neal, the NBA's Most Valuable Player this season and the playoff leader in both scoring and rebounding, took over the game in the third period with 12 points. Unlike the first half when he received the ball a little bit outside of his range, O'Neal was receiving the ball well into the post and hitting little jump hooks and jumpers from 6-8 feet ... not to mention dunks from five of his offensive rebounds.

"They had two and three guys on me in the first half, and I wanted to get our other guys involved," O'Neal said. "Kobe was fabulous in the first half, and they all got on me at halftime about being more aggressive. So I was able to get deep and score more. We know Portland is a fabulous team, but if we do everything we're supposed to do, we can play with them."

Or stomp all over them, whichever the case may be. As Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy pointed out, they turned the ball over 15 times and it produced 25 points for the Lakers. The Blazers were sloppy after building the big lead in the first half and that was their biggest problem. Other than trying to deal with O'Neal, there was also the predicament of leading scorer Rasheed Wallace turning his ankle. After a quick start, he never got back into the groove.

And even though Damon Stoudamire shared Wallace's scoring honors for Portland with 19 points, there was never any sense of continuity. Even Pippen was a mess most of the game until he scored eight of his 12 points down the stretch in the fourth quarter when the Blazers overcame a 9-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to tie the score with 1:14 left.

Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers come out on top in Game 3 against Scottie Pippen's Blazers. (AP)

Then after the two teams exchanged turnovers, Bryant penetrated the lane one more time, only to find Ron Harper alone along the left baseline for a 19-foot jumper that hit nothing but net with 29.9 seconds left on the clock.

Still, the Blazers had one more chance. As Stoudamire burrowed his way to the hoop and was double-teamed, he kicked it out to Arvydas Sabonis, who was open from 15 feet just to the right of the key. But instead of taking the shot, he put a ball-fake on O'Neal and went to the rim.

Bryant blocked it.

The Blazers screamed foul.

The game was over.

"We just have to forget about this one," Pippen said. "Sabas (Sabonis) had the high-percentage shot and he probably should have taken it. They're not going to call that foul at the end of the game."

And they didn't. The blood already is boiling, with Pippen and Rick Fox in each other's face at one point. Wallace was irritated much of the game by A.C. Green, and Bryant suffered some indignation with the surprise-yet-effective appearance of Stacey Augmon.

Most apparent, however, is the Blazers blew what could have been a commanding 2-1 lead going into Sunday. Instead, all the pressure has fallen on their shoulders after feeling pretty good about themselves through Game 2 and midway through the second quarter Friday night. Now they trail 2-1 and have to win Sunday or the series is virtually over.

"We just lost our rhythm throughout the game and didn't get anything going again until the end," Pippen said. "The wheels just feel off. We just weren't as sharp today on defense as well as offense. We just have to forget about this one and get ready for Sunday."

Easier said than done.