SPORTSTICKER NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION WESTERN CONFERENCE TEAM REPORTS FOR SUNDAY, MAY 23 The Lakers and C Shaquille O'Neal are on the verge of being swept out of the playoffs again. Los Angeles trails the Western Conference semifinals 3-0 after Saturday's 103-91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs and a loss Sunday would mark the second straight exit via sweep for the Lakers and the fifth in six seasons for O'Neal. ... Los Angeles went scoreless in the final 1:55, missing five shots and two free throws. ... G Derek Fisher had a playoff career-high nine assists. ... The Lakers allowed 36 points in the fourth quarter, the most they have allowed in any postseason period. ... F Glen Rice was 6-of-19 and is 10-of-32 in the last two games. "We have to continue to keep Shaq involved in the game," he said. "He's unstoppable in the paint. We had a lot of their guys in foul trouble. It was a failure to execute and realize what was going on." * PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS ---------------------- The Trail Blazers looked awesome in Saturday's 97-87 victory over the Utah Jazz that gave them a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. But afterward, the team felt the win had accomplished next to nothing. "Two-one is not the important game, it's the next game that's the pivotal game," G Greg Anthony said. "You go 2-2 and then everything we've worked for and all the momentum we've created thus far is out the door." ... The frontcourt dominated Utah in the first half, with starting Fs Brian Grant and Rasheed Wallace and C Arvydas Sabonis scoring 11 points apiece, helping build a 47-30 lead. ... F-G Walt Williams took six shots, all from 3-point range. He made three. ... The Blazers took advantage of a sellout crowd of 20,720 at the Rose Garden. "They rattled the Jazz a little bit, especially when we made our runs," Grant said. "That's what the home crowd is supposed to do. It's a hostile environment going into Utah and playing at the Delta Center. We wanted it to be a very hostile environment for the Jazz at the Rose Garden." ... The Blazers never have lost a series when taking a 2-1 lead. * SAN ANTONIO SPURS ----------------- The Spurs are one win away from the Western Conference finals after Saturday's 103-91 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. San Antonio has been to the conference finals four times but never has reached the NBA Finals. ... The Spurs improved to 3-0 on the road in the postseason. ... G Jaren Jackson scored 22 points, a playoff career high. His previous best was 18 against Phoenix on April 27, 1998. ... F Tim Duncan scored 37 points, matching the best individual total of this year's playoffs. Duncan made 19 free throws, four less than the entire Lakers team. ... San Antonio held Los Angeles scoreless for the final 1:55, ending the game on a 13-0 run. "We know that we're always in the game and in the last three or four minutes we're going to make stops so we don't get down if we get down by four or six points," F Sean Elliott said. "We just keep grinding it out." * UTAH JAZZ --------- The Jazz are in trouble for the second straight playoff round. Saturday's 97 87 loss to Portland has Utah trailing 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals and makes Sunday's game practically a must-win. Utah fell behind Sacramento 2-1 in the opening round and with no margin for error won the last two games. ... The Jazz got pushed around early and did not respond. They went more than 11 minutes without a basket for one stretch of the first half and trailed by as many as 25 points early in the third quarter. "We just came out flat," F Bryon Russell said. "We thought we were ready but we weren't. We didn't play hard at all." Russell was 0-of-8 from the field. ... G John Stockton showed his frustration with a couple of fourth-quarter shoves of Blazers G Greg Anthony. Stockton also had a technical foul in the second quarter. ... En route to last year's NBA Finals, the Jazz lost just three games. They already have lost four games in this year's playoffs. ... Citing no sources, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that F Karl Malone has won the NBA Most Valuable Player award for the second time in three seasons. Two years ago, The Deseret News had an early report on Malone winning the award, but that newspaper polled every media member who had a vote.  