NBA PLAYOFFS : Dunleavy: ‘We Need Game 2’ : Western finals: Laker coach isn’t relaxing even though his team has a 1-0 lead over the Trail Blazers.

PORTLAND, Ore. —  Having crossed that line dividing the hunter from what Magic Johnson called the huntee, the Lakers stand on the threshold of . . .

What?

“I don’t look at it as an opportunity,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said as his Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers prepared for tonight’s Game 2 of the Western finals.

“I look at it as a challenge. Their team is probably going to be as focused asit’s ever been. They’ve been stunned in Game 1. They’re probably looking at it like they have to have Game 2.

“The way I look at it, we need Game 2 also. This home-court advantage we’re supposed to have, I don’t have a lot of faith in it. These two teams, with the talent they have and the way they’ve played, nobody’s home court is safe.”

Thus the lines are drawn anew: the Lakers with their 4-0 playoff road record against the Blazers, who can be expected to come out with their eyes looking like BBs.

What, them worry?

In a word, yes.

While Coach Rick Adelman sought to lay off the pressure, even denying this was an all-important game, Trail Blazer guard Danny Ainge put it on the line: There’s pressure on the Blazers. He thinks it’s good. They’re scared.

“I don’t believe in too much pressure,” Ainge said. “I believe, the more pressure, the better we’ll play. It’s a must game.

“I think fear is a great motivator. I think fear of losing--I know it helps me and I hope it helps our team.

“I think when you have a little bit of fear of your opponent, it helps. I think it wasn’t there enough in Game 1. I think we got a little bit overconfident, to be honest with you.”

Whatever they were, the Trail Blazers blew a 14-point lead, 12 of it in the fourth quarter, and fell.

That set off the kind of community-wide gnashing of teeth you might expect, given the setting and the presence of the Lakers.

Adelman was criticized for playing a cold Walter Davis when the Lakers started their run. Former Trail Blazer star Bill Walton, writing a column for the Oregonian and doing local TV commentary, too, gave the coach a thumbs-down on that one.

Said Johnson in wonder: “I think a lot of things were said I couldn’t believe. It was only one game. You would have thought it was 2-0, 3-0. I said, ‘Man . . . ‘ “

Said Adelman, in resignation: “That’s just the way it is here. Everybody gets too high and too low.

“We lost one game to an excellent team. Magic and (James) Worthy, being the kind of players they are, it’s not unusual that they hurt a team. Because they hurt us, there’s supposed to be something drastically wrong with our team.”

Then there was the Great Double-Team Controversy.

Like all NBA coaches, Adelman double-teamed Johnson, who responded with 21 assists.

The Trail Blazers might have done it more consistently and quicker than some, but when Byron Scott went nine for 12 from the perimeter, and Portland lost, it wasn’t heralded as the strategy of the year.

Nevertheless, you can expect to see it again with variations.

The Trail Blazers may try mixing in single coverage. Remember, Johnson isn’t shooting well--17 for 52 over four games.

They may wait until he dribbles and the shot clock has wound down to bring up the second defender.

They may keep a man on Scott or try to rotate to him faster.

Whatever they do, the Trail Blazers can be expected to do it with enthusiasm.

Walton said: “Basketball at this level is who can muster up the emotional level to beat the other team--which also has tremendous emotional capacity. It’s who can push harder.

“What happens in these games, you win one, you think you’ve got it, you relax a little. The other team pushes harder because it has its back to the wall.”

Those are the Trail Blazers, with the wall behind them.

There’s your Laker challenge.

Laker Notes

In six Laker-Trail Blazer games this season, the home team is 2-4. . . . Magic Johnson, the two-time defending MVP on running second in the balloting to Chicago’s Michael Jordan: “When we started out 2-5, I was more into getting our team together. I knew we had a tough year coming. We weathered it, and here we are. That’s not taking anything away from what Michael and David (Robinson) did. They both had a better year than I did individually.” Robinson finished third in the voting.