LOS ANGELES -- The Lakers seem to always know they'll find a way to win.

That confidence has helped them accomplish an unprecedented feat in sports -- 19 wins in 20 playoff games.

The Lakers' latest victory was perhaps the most improbable of the run that started with a 116-111 win over Indiana in the clinching Game 6 of the 2000 NBA Finals. It continued with a 15-1 postseason last spring and the 3-0 beginning to these playoffs.

And it came after they showed why many believe they're more vulnerable this time around as they shoot for their third straight championship.

Vulnerable? Perhaps.

Battle-tested and clutch? No doubt.

And that's how the Lakers became the first baseball, football, basketball or hockey team ever to go 19-1 in a span of 20 postseason games.

"It took the pressure of the game-ending situation for them to step it up and play the way they should play," coach Phil Jackson said following Sunday's 92-91 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, giving the Lakers a first-round sweep and a week off before they face San Antonio or Seattle in the second round.

After the Blazers took an 89-84 lead on Rasheed Wallace's rebound basket with 39 seconds remaining that left their bench delirious with joy, the Lakers systematically put Portland away with a game-finishing 8-2 run capped by Robert Horry's 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left.

Horry, a member of four championship teams in his career, has played that act before, making a game-winning 3-pointer at Philadelphia in Game 3 of the NBA Finals last year along with several other clutch shots in the postseason.

He got the open shot this time compliments of a Kobe Bryant pass -- a play Bryant hasn't always been willing or able to make.

"Last year Kobe wouldn't have made that pass," Horry said. "He believed in himself more than his team. But all this year, he's changed."

Bryant, who flicked the ball to a wide-open Horry in the right corner after being double-teamed as he dribbled toward the basket.

Horry's shot was clean. And after a Portland turnover, it was game over.

"This shows his maturity, it's been like this all year," veteran Lakers guard Brian Shaw said of Bryant. "He doesn't force things anymore. He trusts us now."

Actually, everything changed for Bryant before last year's playoffs, when he sat out nine games and most of a 10th because of a sprained ankle. That was on the heels of his well-publicized feud with Shaquille O'Neal -- now just a distant memory.

When Bryant returned with four games left in the regular season, it was apparent he learned during his absence that he could benefit himself and his team more by reading the defense, not just always trying to make the winning play by himself.

O'Neal recognized Bryant's growth by proclaiming him the best player in the world during the Lakers' four-game sweep of San Antonio during the Western Conference finals.

And O'Neal wasn't kidding, he meant it.

Horry's game-winner in Portland wouldn't have happened had Bryant not made a 3-pointer of his own with 12.7 seconds to play thanks in part to a screen by O'Neal that freed Bryant near the top of the key.

"A beautiful pick, I was wide open," Bryant said.

Of Horry's game-winner, Bryant said: "It's hard to describe what it feels like when the ball is floating through the air like that, and you know it's going in. All I was thinking was, cash."

Jackson had to be frustrated at times at his team's ragged second-half performance leading to Portland's late five-point lead.

Afterward, though, he marveled at what O'Neal, Bryant, Horry, Rick Fox and Derek Fisher accomplished.

"The symbiotic relationship that those five have on the court after playing a couple of championships now showed its difference in there," Jackson said. "I was concerned about it because they didn't demonstrate that with three minutes to go or two minutes to go."

It was another matter when the Lakers had to get it done, eliminating the Blazers for the fifth time in six years.

Jackson rewarded his players by giving them off Monday, a no-brainer considering they won't play again until next Sunday.