"We're playing for high stakes right now, the Western Conference finals," Bryant said. "And we don't give a damn about what (the Trail Blazers) feel they have to prove."

If the Lakers have learned anything from coach Phil Jackson over the past 11 months, Bryant said this would be a good time to show it. There will be no skating by the Blazers, no relying on athleticism or luck.

"They'll bring the best out of us," Bryant said. "Everything we learned from training camp (to now) is going to have to come out now ... especially mentally, because, physically, we can't match up with them."

The Lakers can't?

"Hell no."

According to Jackson, it will be the Lakers' quality versus the Blazers' quantity when the best-of-7 series tips off Saturday afternoon at Staples Center.

The teams split four games this season, and L.A. won the big one three months ago in Portland when both teams sported 11-game winning streaks.

However, Jackson discounted that game because Brian Grant, the Blazers' sixth man, was injured. Even without Grant, the Lakers only won by three points.

"It was an even-fought game," Bryant said. "I think we're both trying to figure each other out. Even though we've played four times, I don't think we have a feel for one another. They're bigger and more athletic, so they can bother us."

Since that February game at the Rose Garden, the Blazers slipped a bit as the Lakers powered their way to 67 wins and home-court advantage in the postseason. Perhaps the Blazers put it in cruise control, but Bryant sees them playing now like they were early in the season.

Anyone east of the Mississippi likely doesn't want to hear this, but the victor of the Western Conference finals has also been unofficially crowned as the favorite to win the NBA championship.

"Everyone has been talking about this series forever," Bryant said. "Everyone automatically put us in the Western Conference finals, and that moment's here. So let's play."

Portland has five players averaging at least 9.8 points in the playoffs, and L.A. has three. The Lakers, overall, have shot better than the Blazers in the playoffs, have kept opponents to a lower shooting percentage, have taken care of the ball better and have hit the boards with more force.

Yet, somehow, Bryant, through either media reports or words from his philosophical coach, believes the Lakers are underdogs in the series, even though they have the home-court edge and are 6-0 at Staples in the playoffs.

"We seem to be the underdogs right now," Bryant said. "That's perfect for me and perfect for us."

Said Jackson: "I'm thinking, probably odds-on, that people will look at Portland as the team to beat."

Bryant said it's critical that Glen Rice badger Steve Smith at both ends of the court. Smith leads Portland with 16.2 points a game in the playoffs. Bryant thinks Scottie Pippen will defend him late, because Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy will want to conserve Pippen's energy.

Bryant figures he'll draw Damon Stoudamire, a "water bug" who isn't as pesky or quick as Travis Best of Indiana. But Bryant's knees never hurt as much as they do after he plays against Stoudamire.

"Stopping, going, stopping going," Bryant said. "It'll be a challenge."

Bryant expects Stoudamire to energize Portland on offense at the start of each half, and bench players Bonzi Wells and Detlef Schrempf -- "who does his little damage here and there," Bryant said -- must be contained.

And Bryant discounted the theory that Pippen's intimacy of Jackson's system will be such a boon to the Blazers.

"He's one man," Bryant said. "He'll try to cut off the lanes and read the way our offense is working, and he was pretty effective breaking that up (in the four regular-season meetings). But there are ways to get around it. It doesn't matter if all five guys were in synch. Even if that were the case, you can get around it because you go away from pressure.

"No matter what Scottie does, we can get around it."

Kobe Bryant says the top-seeded Lakers are the underdogs against Portland in the conference finals.(AP)

In one of the many intriguing aspects of this series, Dunleavy coached the Lakers when they lost to Jackson and the Chicago Bulls in the 1991 NBA Finals. And the Lakers beat the Blazers in six games in the Western Conference finals that year.

"Scottie isn't coaching the game," Jackson said. "Mike Dunleavy is a great coach. He has a lot of things up his sleeves. He's a good defensive man, and they'll have a great plan. This will be a hard-fought series, and they can throw a lot of bodies at us."

What the Lakers will try to hone in on is the heart of the Blazers, which Bryant doesn't believe will be an easy task. Keeping Chris Webber of Sacramento at bay and exploiting Phoenix down low were keys in the first two rounds, but Portland's depth will present different problems.

The Lakers drew huge doses of confidence from their first two series, though, from being forced to play an elimination game against Sacramento to bouncing back and smacking the Suns two days after the Suns had smacked them in Phoenix.

"Once we're able to figure out a team and where their heart is, we feel like we can take it right from them," Bryant said. "It's a matter of finding their rhythm, and some teams take longer than others. Portland is a much harder team to figure out.

"But the most important thing we've learned is how to execute certain things in your offense and getting the job done. That's what we cherish the most."