Lakers Apparently Get Back on Track, 118-94

PORTLAND —  Immediately after blowing out the Portland Trail Blazers, 118-94, Thursday night, the Lakers were wondering whether they had just passed a major exam or something more along the lines of a pop quiz.

“We’ll know when we play the 76ers,” Byron Scott said.

And what will the Lakers know then?

“We’ll know whether we’re back, on the way back, some place in between or somewhere else,” Scott said.

After a two-week period when their game was definitely somewhere else, the Lakers appeared to get themselves pointed in the right direction again, or at least close to it.

The Lakers did a lot of good things at the expense of the Trail Blazers, who, without center Sam Bowie, were no match for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But that’s been a continuing story with these two teams.

They’ve played four games this season, and the Lakers have won them all. In the last 21 games the Trail Blazers have played the Lakers, they’ve lost 18 times.

“One of these days, I really think we’re going to beat them,” said Clyde Drexler, who had the flu and didn’t do much Thursday night.

Drexler was not alone. Outside of Kiki Vandeweghe, who had 25 points, none of the rest of the Trail Blazers did much either, but a lot of that was due to the sudden and unexpected reappearance of the Laker defense, which limited Portland to 35.5 % shooting.

Abdul-Jabbar scored 25 points in 35 minutes, while both Scott and James Worthy finished with 20 points in one of the better all-around Laker games since Christmas.

Down by two points after the first quarter, the Lakers got a big lift from non-starters A. C. Green, Maurice Lucas and Scott to assume control of the game in the second quarter.

At halftime, the Lakers led by 12, at the end of the third quarter by 15 and with six minutes left by 19. The Lakers allowed Portland to come no closer than six points in the second half, and that didn’t last very long.

Portland went nearly five minutes without a field goal, which was bad timing on their part because the Lakers were going on a 15-0 tear to jump ahead, 85-64, near the end of the third quarter.

Michael Cooper, who started the streak with a three-point play on a breakaway, said the Lakers finally seemed to get over not having Magic Johnson around. Johnson missed his fourth consecutive game because of a bruised right knee.

“It took us a while to adjust without Magic,” said Cooper, who had 12 assists.

Life without Magic hasn’t been a lot of fun for the Lakers. Getting beat four of their last five games on the road was an indication of how poorly the Lakers were playing.

Abdul-Jabbar said that minus Magic, the Lakers were a bit confused.

“We were in a state of shock . . . disoriented,” he said. “It was like sensory deprivation. I think we’re getting over that now. We’ve gotten out of the confusion, that’s for sure. We know what it takes to win. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we’ll always win, though.”

It just meant they won Thursday night. Until at least tonight, the Lakers have every right to feel pretty good about themselves, or more precisely, feel good about what they got out of their bench, which has been a source of concern to Coach Pat Riley.

The Lakers actually had more non-starters score in double figures than starters. Scott’s 20-point effort was supported by Green’s 18 points plus 14 more from Maurice Lucas, who found himself playing both forward and center in Mitch Kupchak’s absence.

Lucas made 5 of 7 shots to go along with 8 rebounds, and he had his own explanation of why the Lakers seem to have halted their mini-slide.

“We’ve had real good eating and been getting some rest,” he said.

Proper diet and improved sleeping habits are surely important, but Riley spoke of other reasons.

“We went through a period when we really didn’t have time to gather ourselves,” he said. “Now, we’re more focused. We don’t want to settle for mediocrity. That’s how we have been playing. But I’m not saying we’re out of the woods yet.”

Bowie has a leg injury that the Trail Blazers are calling a bruise but could actually be a stress fracture. In his absence, the Lakers dominated the play inside and wound up with a 51-40 advantage on the backboards.

Abdul-Jabbar led all players with nine rebounds.

Working 38 minutes, center Caldwell Jones tried his best against Abdul-Jabbar, but Trail Blazer Coach Jack Ramsay still wasn’t very pleased.

“Kareem gets the ball and does anything he wants,” Ramsay said. “We don’t want him shooting from five feet. You can’t stop Kareem from getting the ball, but you can stop him from taking the easy shot.”

Abdul-Jabbar wasn’t the only Laker getting easy shots. Worthy took 13 and made 10, which helped the Lakers to a 53.3 % night from the field.

Actually, a good night was had by all the Lakers, and that hasn’t happened in a while.

“We had gotten complacent,” Cooper said. “We figured us being world champions would just get the job done. Well, that didn’t work. Maybe what we’re doing now will.”