Lakers Have Lost Magic Touch and Third Game in Row, 127-115

For the last two seasons, Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics has been voted the Most Valuable Player in the National Basketball Assn.

There is no intent to disparage the selection of the 6-9 forward. However, the best way to determine the MVP is how the team does without the player.

The Celtics have not fallen apart on the rare occasion when Bird is missing.

The Lakers, the celebrated champions of the world, have fallen apart in the absence of Magic Johnson.

The Denver Nuggets, a team battling a slump, blew the Lakers out Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 17,505 at the Forum. The Nuggets took charge midway through the second quarter and never let the Lakers back in the game, racing to a 127-115 victory.

It was the third consecutive game in which the Lakers were routed. In the last two games, Johnson, hobbled by a sore knee, sat on the bench in street clothes and suffered. He played last Wednesday in the 110-95 loss at Boston, but obviously was below par and probably shouldn’t have. He watched Friday night as the Clippers beat the Lakers, 120-109.

Adding to the woes of Coach Pat Riley, two more players are hurting. Maurice Lucas missed the second half against the Nuggests because of a headache, and Michael Cooper limped around on a sore calf that was injured when he was kicked in the humiliating loss to the Clippers.

Among the problems the Lakers have when Magic is missing are the absence of a fast break, poor rebounding and a disorganized half-court offense.

Kurt Rambis, after missing five games, four because of a sprained ankle and one because of the birth of a baby, returned to the lineup. For a while, he did his part to keep the Lakers in the game. He sparkled on rebounds, did a solid job on defense and tried to keep everyone hustling.

But the Lakers received an early jolt when Cooper picked up three fouls in less than six minutes. He went to the bench, and the Lakers suffered on both offense and defense.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was most of the Laker offense in the first half, scoring 20 points, but he couldn’t handle the entire Nugget array of sharpshooters, who always seemed open for short jumpers.

The Lakers just weren’t able to go out on the break. They stayed close, though, for 17 minutes.

Two jumpers in a row by Denver’s Wayne Cooper followed a 41-41 tie, and the Nuggets kept steadily increasing their advantage until it reached 13 points late in the second quarter.

A late flurry by Abdul-Jabbar cut the lead to eight, but at intermission the Nuggets had a 65-53 lead.

The Nuggets built their lead without much help from Alex English, the No. 2 scorer. English scored only six points while playing 11 minutes in the half. He was 2 for 7 from the field and had three fouls.

English made the Nuggets’ first three baskets of the third quarter as the visitors doggedly held onto their lead. The Lakers appeared disorganized but were battling.

In desperation, Riley tried a combination of three forwards, Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper. That experiment lasted less than a minute, or until Rambis picked up his fourth foul.

By the time the third period ended, Abdul-Jabbar, who had to work hard to get his first-half points, was on the bench, obviously tired, and the Nuggets had pulled out to a 95-80 lead.

In all, eight Nuggets scored in double figures, led by English’s 20 points and Calvin Natt’s 18. Wayne Cooper finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for Denver, which has won three of four games against the Lakers this season.

For the Lakers, who have lost four of their last five games, Abdul-Jabbar finished with 26 points and a season-high 9 assists, while James Worthy had 18 points.

Laker Notes Magic Johnson is getting treatment for his sore and swollen knee. There is a chance that he will return for Tuesday night’s game against Milwaukee, which leads the Central Division by 4 1/2 games. Their Bucks won Saturday night at New York, giving them a 12-11 record on the road. This will be the Bucks’ only appearance of the regular season here. . . .Saturday night’s game was the 10th sellout of the season for the Lakers and raised their attendance average to 16,385, ahead of the pace in 1971-72 season when they set a club record with a 16,301 average.