{Elje JJortlanù ©bacrucr Page A8 orttani) A pril 24, 2002 S porb /METRO BLAZERS UPBEAT FOR THURSDAY S GAME 2 V rrsith Tennis P acks f f io C ourts Shaq, Kobe lead Los Angeles in playoff opener (AP) - The Portland Trail Blazers know they still have a chance to steal homecourt advantage from the Lakers. Los Angeles won game one 95-87, and Game 2 is Thursday night at Staples Center before the best-of- five series moves to Portland a week from today. The Blazers' goal is to win j ust one o f the first two games. “I think our guys are focused, 1 think they’re ready,” said Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks after the loss. The coach said he was satisfied with the effort, but dissatisfied with the quick shots the team took in the second half. Scottie Pippen said the game was a "lost oppor tunity,” but the Lakers worked all season to get homecourt advantage. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said his team had a hard time in getting the ball to Shaquille O ’Neal early in the game because the Blazers kept two or three defenders on him. Jackson said the team made up for it by shooting from the outside in the second half. Kobe Bryant had 34 points and O ’Neal had 25 as the Lakers pulled away from the Blazers in the fourth quarter in Sunday’s opening game. Rasheed Wallace had 25 points to lead the Blaz ers. Portland trailed by ten points in the third quarter Scottie Pippen (left) defends the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant during Sunday's playoff game. (AP photo) Abdul-Jabbar’s first win will have to wait. The Storm blew a 14- poin t se c o n d -h a lf advantage against the Dodge City Legend, then rallied for a late lead before losing 98-97 on Tim Pledger’s two free throws with 7.5 seconds left. “I didn’t like the outcome, but my guys worked hard and tried to pay a tte n tio n ” said A bdul- Jabbar, the N BA ’s career scoring leader. “W ejust made some men 2002 CARPET CLEAN UP i ■ MARTIN CLEANING — ..... SERVICE D avid G iezyng / T he P ortland O bserver NFL Detroit Lions Pick Harrington tal mistakes.” “I don’t know if any o f you ever saw Coach Wooden coach, but he tried to do all ofhis coach ing before the gam e,” Abdul- Jabbar said. “That’s my goal, but I have a long way to go before I reach those heights.” “I love this game, he said. "It’s been good to me, and I think 1 have some things I can give back to it.” CARPET C LEAN IN G f PHOTO BY but rallied to get within 68-67 early in the fourth, after a turnaround jum per by Wallace and a three-point play by Derek Anderson. But the Lakers slowly built their lead after that, outscoring Portland 27-to-20 the rest o f the way. After Bryant’s jum per gave LA a 12-point lead, the Blazers fought back again, getting within 87-82 with just under 4:30 to go. But Portland couldn’t get any closer. Bryant started getting hot in the second quarter, when he was guarded by the supposed “Kobe Stop per,” Ruben Patterson. Kareem Loses Head Coaching Debut (AP) Thirteen years after his retirement from the NBA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can still put bod ies in the seats, even when he’s sitting down. A standing-room-only crowd packed the Dodge City Civic Center on Sunday night to watch the Hall o f Famer make his pro fessional head coaching debut with the United States Basket ball League ’s Oklahoma Storm. Momei Qu of Wilson High School returns a serve during a tennis match with Cristin Sammis of Cleveland last week. Portland tennis courts are popular athletic venues during the spring varsity tennis season. (A P)-Form er Or egon football quar terback and Central C a th o lic H igh S c h o o l s ta n d o u t Joey H arrington ar rived in Detroit Sun day a fte rn o o n to check out his new city. H arrington w as drafted by the D etroit Lions at the N um ber Three pick Satur Pacific Northwest Media PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLIC RELATIONS MEDIA EVENTS PRIVATE PARTIES WEDDINGS Mark Washington Photographer 503.450.0033 P.O. Box 3521 L CARPET CLEANING 1 E • Hot Water Extraction (Steam Clean Carpets) Pre-Spray Traffic Areas • Stairs.... $ 1 . 5 0 each UPHOLSTERY CLEANING • Sofa (under 6 ft.) • Loveseat • Sectional • Chair • Recliner $69 DDITIONAL SERVICES ] (503) 286-1103 (503)286-1146 OFF.: • Auto*Boat*RV Cleaning • Deodorizing • Dirt Resistant (Teflon) Protection • Spot & Stain Removal • Pet Odor Treatment • Leather Cleaning • Water Damage Cleanup $49 Portland, OR 97208 FAX: STATE FARM IN S U R A N C E C O M PA N IES HOME OFF1CES:BLOOMINQTON, ILLINOIS ERNEST J. HILL, JR. Agent 6 5 2 7 NE M L K , Jr. B oulevard $ 9 9 fit u p S u ite A $ 2 0 at up P o rtla n d , OR 9 7 2 1 7 $ 2 9 8r up CARPET COUPON 1 Cleaning Area Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hall Not Included) $35.00 Retirement Living Westmoreland’s Union Manor 6404 SE 23rd Avenue ♦ CARPET COUPON 2 Areas or More 1 Small Hall Free Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Area Portland 97202 5 03 *2 3 3 *5 6 7 1 $25.00 Marshall Union Manor 2020 N W Northrup Street ♦ Portland 97209 5 0 3 *2 2 5 *0 6 7 7 Kirkland Union Manors 3530 SE 84th Avenue ♦ UPHOLSTERY COUPON Sofa (under 6 ft) Loveseat Portland 97266 5 0 3 *7 7 7 *8 1 0 1 $69.00 $49.00 Kirkland Union Plaza 1414 Kauffman Avenue ♦ Vancouver 98660 3 6 0 *6 9 4 *4 3 1 4 *. Studio & One-Bed room Apartments with Kitchens A ^C a rp et A Upholstery Cleaninsr&A Commarciai and Residential Services I • Affordable Rents with No Buy-In or Application Fees • Garden Areas & Planned Activities • Easy Access to Bus Lines & Shopping ( A l l. FO R APPOINTMENTS 503-2X1-3949 • Federal Rent Subsidies Available for those that qualify www.tbeunionmanors.org day. He show ed up in D e tro it w ith his fam ily and played nine holes o f golf. At a press con ference, Harrington passed out bum per stickers that read “O rygun" to poke fun at theM idw est- em pronunciation o f his home state and alm a mater. He also told reporters he will com pete for the starting jo b against the L ions’ current quar terback M ike M cM ahon. Harrington said he will be dis appointed if he is not on the field opening day. Harrington also said he would keep the name “Joey” even after Lions president Matt Millen said it d id n ’t seem like a good nam e for an NFL quarterback in a blue- collarcity. China’s 7-foot-5 Star To Enter NBA Draft (AP) Yao Ming, a 7- foot-5 center from China, has been cleared to enter the NBA draft. His current club, the Shanghai Sharks, made the announcement after Yao helped it win its first Chi nese Basketball Associa tion championship Friday. "W e want him to go to a team that has a chance to play in the playoffs in the NBA in two or three sea sons. I think that will be China's tallest player Yao Ming good for his d ev elo p stands 7 feet 5 inches. (AP m ent,” Sharks general photo) manager Li Yaomin told China’s official Xinhua News Agency. Yao has been projected as an NBA lottery pick, possibly No. 1 overall. “It’s exciting,” NBA commissioner David Stem said Sunday night before the Detroit-Toronto game. "As a league, to see world-class players coming into our league from Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Asia is an exciting thing for our league. "And to think that there will be a generation that will grow up watching their countrymen play in the NBA, I think speaks well for our growth and development. I think it makes the competition in our league extraordinary tough, and it raises the level greatly,” Stem said. Indian Mascots Boycott Urged (AP) — A group has col lected signatures from about half the law students at the University o f Oregon, asking the school’s athletics depart ment to boycott games against teams with American Indian mascots. The Sport and Entertain ment Law Forum is also asking UO student athletes to pledge never to accept an offer from professional teams that use American Indian nicknames, such as the W a sh in g to n Redskins. Frank Silva, a UO law stu dent and m em ber o f the fo rum, said he hopes a m ajority o fh is class o f about 500 will sign before the resolution is subm itted to UO President Dave Frohnm ayer for consid eration. “ It’s a statement o f solidar ity from our school,” Silva said. Ifsuccessful at the UO, Silva hopes to begin circulating the resolution nationally and to put pressure on universities and even professional teams to drop the names.