Magic Up to New Tricks to Block Seattle’s Rally

If it seems the Lakers’ standard efficiency lacks drama, if not excitement, they sometimes go out of their way to manufacture some. Thus, easy victories can become last-second salvage operations.

Behind Magic Johnson’s prolific game, the Lakers were coasting with an 18-point lead over the Seattle SuperSonics with 5 minutes to play Wednesday night.

But as the Forum crowd of 17,505 began thinning, so did the Lakers’ lead in the stretch.

In a stunning reversal, Seattle took advantage of the Lakers’ lackluster play to turn an apparently certain Laker victory into a game that came down to the last shot.

Just when the SuperSonics finally got the Lakers’ attention, victory was denied. The Lakers needed every one of Magic Johnson’s season-high 40 points, including 4 free throws in the last 18 seconds, to pull out a 110-106 victory.

Well, at least you couldn’t call this a generic Laker win, even though it was their second over the SuperSonics in 3 games and fourth without a loss at the Forum.

For the Lakers to win, they needed help in the final minute by the same SuperSonics who had staged a gallant rally. After 10 straight Seattle points in the final 2 minutes had tied the score at 106-106 with 22 seconds left, reserve forward Olden Polynice missed two free throws, failing to come close to the rim on the first shot and clanging the second off the right side of the rim.

That gave the Lakers the ball, and following a timeout, Johnson was fouled by Polynice after taking the in-bounds pass. Johnson made both free throws for a 108-106 Laker lead. But Seattle still had another possession, and it figured that Coach Bernie Bickerstaff would set up a play either for Dale Ellis, who had 36 points, or to a post man. Instead, forward Jerry Reynolds drove across the lane and, with 5 seconds left, fired an off-balance shot off the wrong foot that Johnson easily snatched away.

Johnson again was fouled, and he made 2 more free throws to secure the victory.

Although it was another typically productive night for Johnson, who had 9 rebounds and 10 assists to go with his 40 points, he shouldered most of the blame for the Lakers’ inability to put away the SuperSonics after they had taken their big lead. “Basically, I’m the one to blame for that,” Johnson said. “I’m the leader of this team. I should’ve got the ball under control. I should’ve done something about it.

“I came into the game (with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter) with the idea that the game was over. With me thinking like that, maybe some of the other guys did, too.”

Neither Johnson nor any of the other Lakers, playing without center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who has an injured right knee), was solely responsible for the fourth-quarter collapse. The SuperSonics, who led early behind Ellis’ scoring barrage, simply refused to quit. Using their effective half-court trap and making several 3-point shots in the final minutes, the SuperSonics sneaked up on the Lakers.

But then, when the Lakers were seemingly ready to be had, the Sonics staged a Super collapse.

“When I was at the line, I was talking like I knew they were going in,” said Polynice, a 63.6% free-throw shooter before the game. “When I shot (the first one), I really thought it was going in. Then, it sort of drifted off to the right.”

Reynolds’ shot that could have sent the game into overtime didn’t even make it as far as the backboard. Johnson made sure of that.

Laker Coach Pat Riley, brushing aside Johnson’s apology, praised Magic for enabling the Lakers to build and maintain the 18-point lead before losing it.

“He’s having a most-valuable-player year,” said Riley of Johnson, who came within 1 rebound of his third triple-double of the season. “He’s a super player, that’s academic. We all know that. He carries us in critical situations and did it again tonight.”

Johnson was responsible for 13 of the Lakers’ last 15 points in the third quarter to give them an 80-62 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Then, Johnson scored 8 straight points to hold off the SuperSonics for a while.

But Seattle was determined to make a game of it, a fact that pleased Bickerstaff.

“It’s a lesson that you can come in here and come back and challenge these guys,” Bickerstaff said. “They (the Lakers) deserved it, but I was pleased by the way we didn’t quit.”

Had Ellis continued his early scoring binge--he made his first 6 shots against Byron Scott’s defense--Seattle might not have found itself in such a hole.

It may have been purely coincidental, but Ellis cooled considerably after a heated exchange with Michael Cooper midway through the second quarter.

Ellis was assessed a technical foul after a brief shoving, and it helped propel the Lakers to a 58-45 halftime lead. When Ellis was given the technical, they held only a 3-point lead. By the end of the half, however, the Lakers had a 17-8 surge that was helped by several SuperSonic turnovers.

The Lakers took advantage of those Seattle mistakes to jump-start their fastbreak. The highlight was Johnson’s length-of-the-court, one-handed pass to A.C. Green for a layup. Then, after Mychal Thompson knocked the ball away from Michael Cage, James Worthy was the recipient of a layup to extend the Laker lead to 52-43.

So desperate for a change were the SuperSonics, they tried a lineup that included veteran guard John Lucas, who promptly was called for traveling and then threw up an air-ball layup that resulted in a 24-second violation.

Laker Notes

Magic Johnson’s 10 assists moved him into second place on the National Basketball Assn.’s all-time list with 7,214. Oscar Robertson is the all-time leader with 9,887. Johnson passed Lenny Wilkens, who had 7,211. . . . Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s bruised right knee turned out to be more serious than first believed. Abdul-Jabbar, hit in the knee while colliding with A.C. Green Monday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, had fluid drained from his swollen knee Wednesday. His status has yet to be determined either for Friday night’s game against the Utah Jazz or Sunday night’s game against the Washington Bullets. “It swelled up pretty bad yesterday,” Abdul-Jabbar said before Wednesday night’s game. “It bled overnight (Monday night), and it was painful when I got back. There’s no structural damage, just fluid.” This was the second game Abdul-Jabbar had missed. He sat out last week’s game at Miami with a sprained right elbow. He had scored in double figures in his last 3 games, including 13 points in 31 minutes against the 76ers.. . . Orlando Woolridge, the Lakers’ other casualty from the 76er game, said the back of his head still is tender after being kicked while chasing a loose ball.