Laker Win Is Easy, as Usual : Clippers Claim a ‘Moral Victory’ but It Counts as a Loss

It’s been a light fortnight of work for the Lakers: Four days off and two games against the Clippers.

Maybe that doesn’t qualify as a vacation, but it’s a nice way to get ready for the playoffs. Actually, the Lakers had to work a little harder than usual to beat the Clippers Sunday night in the Forum, enough so that Clipper forward Michael Cage decided that the Lakers’ 115-101 win constituted a “moral victory” for the losing side.

When your guards miss 40 out of 55 shots, as the Clipper guards did Sunday--Quintin Dailey was 1 for 9, Lancaster Gordon 5 for 15 and Mike Woodson 6 for 20 (1 for 9 in the second half)--there aren’t going to be any other kinds of wins.

The Clippers were in the game for a half, trailing only by six, 59-53, at the break, and they did keep the Lakers from winning by their usual spread--an average of 26 points in the first three meetings between the teams.

While the Laker starters got to rest during the fourth quarter, which is getting to be a habit around here, Kurt Rambis got more work than usual, and was as productive as a Honda assembly line in the Lakers’ seventh straight win and 51st of the season, which enabled them to maintain their 3 1/2-game lead over Boston for best record in the NBA.

Rambis’ line Sunday night was 12 points and 18 rebounds, the latter a career high that he divided evenly on the offensive and defensive boards with nine apiece.

“Insignificant,” he said of his rebounding total.

Ask him about the minutes he played (31), the most he’s had since early in the season--before A.C. Green displaced him as a starter, before rookie Billy Thompson developed, before Mychal Thompson arrived in a trade--and Rambis tells a different story.

“Those are all coaching decisions when and if I play,” Rambis said. “But I’ve been around long enough, and enough things have happened to me, to know that if I hang in there and keep my head up, keep thinking positive things, good things will happen to me.

“I’ve had ups and downs in my career, but by now I know anything can happen.”

Until recently, what had been happening was this: Rambis’ court time had begun dwindling, even into single digits.

“Yeah, it’s been a frustrating down,” Rambis said. “But we’ve been winning ballgames, and that’s got to be the utmost thing that anyone cares about on this ballclub.”

Lately, however, Laker Coach Pat Riley has begun working Rambis back into the rotation, and he has responded--15 rebounds in 20 minutes against Denver, 7 rebounds in 22 minutes against Portland.

“He can be the backbone of this team,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “We need that kind of effort from him. Every now and then he’s not going to get his minutes, but they’ll get extended when he shows us that kind of effort.”

The Clippers, who have lost as many games (51) as the Lakers have won, were still within hailing distance of the Lakers until the home team ran off a flurry of fast-break baskets at the end of the third quarter to take an 88-73 lead.

When Michael Cooper sent Wes Matthews in for a breakaway basket with 7:20 left to play, the Lakers had their biggest lead, 22 points.

Magic Johnson had 20 points and 10 assists while he was still in there to lead the Lakers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar missed just one shot (8 of 9) for 17 points, and only Mike Smrek--who played the last three minutes--didn’t score.

Woodson had 19 points and Cage 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Clippers.

“For the first time all year, I thought we had a chance to beat these guys,” Cage said. “It was the first time all year we’ve been down by less than 10 points. They didn’t just come in, kick us in the tail, and leave.”

There were no flareups reminiscent of the game last Monday in the Sports Arena, in which Benoit Benjamin and Woodson were ejected. Benjamin picked up three quick fouls and scored just eight points in 24 minutes, yielding his spot to Tim Kempton, who scored 14.

“When we came off the road, I’ve never seen a team so tired mentally,” Riley said, referring to the Lakers’ long stretch away from home which ended at the beginning of the month.

“But we’re in a perfect situation now. There’s still a long way to go--if there were just five games left in the regular season, we’d be working harder, doing a lot of different things, putting in a new defense. But we don’t have to do that right now. It’s just play, and run our stuff.

“Our fastbreaks are coming off energy. We’re getting 55 or 60 now, as opposed to 30 on our last trip.”

An added dose of Rambis is enough to bring up any team’s energy level. When the Lakers beat the Celtics for the championship in ‘85, they said it couldn’t be done without the little things Rambis does. That still holds true, he said.

“We all realize whether it comes from me or somebody else, we’re not going to win anything in the playoffs without players willing to make sacrifices, willing to perform the hustle plays and effort plays. Those are the intangible things that win big ballgames.”

Laker Notes

The Lakers blocked 11 shots Sunday night, six by Mychal Thompson. . . . Mitch Kupchak, the Lakers’ assistant general manager, is scheduled to complete work on his master’s degree at UCLA this week. The team recently threw a surprise party in his honor. “The first surprise party of my life,” said Kupchak, who went to school part-time and summers for the last four years. . . . The Lakers had outrebounded opponents in eight of their last nine games before Sunday, when they were tied by the Clippers, 48-48. . . . The Lakers have had 18 sellouts here, including Sunday night, although a lot of people chose to stay home, judging by the empty seats. The Lakers are third in the league in attendance.