Lakers Win in Big Way : NBA: Golden State’s small lineup is overmatched. Los Angeles pushes ball inside for a 130-111 victory.

Manute Bol sat stoically on the bench Friday night, those bony knees up near his eyes. Uwe Blab slouched close by, making it a combined 14 feet 8 inches of height wasting away on the Golden State Warriors’ bench.

So much for the Lakers’ recent problems establishing an inside game. All they had to do to ensure victory was corral this running, scrambling version of the Warriors and move the game inside where they, for once, held a significant height advantage.

The Lakers did all that with little trouble, breaking out of a recent offensive slump with a resounding 130-111 victory before a Forum crowd of 17,505.

Seeking a change after being hammered by the Clippers on Thursday night, Warrior Coach Don Nelson went small against the Lakers. It had been a successful strategy last season, making opponents alter styles and matchups and generally causing confusion.

“All I’m trying to do is find the best way to win a game,” Nelson said. “We thought if we came in here and took a chance and tried something different, maybe we’d win.”

All it meant Friday was that the Laker big men--and that constituted anybody taller than 6-7--had big nights.

Laker small forward James Worthy, who at 6-9 towered over any Warrior defender, scored 34 points, one short of his season high, and had 12 rebounds. Orlando Woolridge, also 6-9, reached his season high with 22 points. And center Mychal Thompson, in his first game back after missing two weeks with a sore heel, had 13 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes.

All told, the Lakers made 37 of 53 field-goal attempts either inside or on the fast break and held a 52-35 rebounding advantage.

The sight of Bol and Blab sitting like bookends practically made Laker forwards salivate. “I was licking my chops,” Woolridge said.

Added Thompson: “Without Manute in the middle, you got to force feed (the ball) down low until you feel like you got indigestion. We kept going there.”

Because the Lakers were so effective inside, as well as eventually slowing the Warriors’ running game, the Lakers’ outside game opened for Byron Scott and Magic Johnson.

Scott had his second consecutive productive game after enduring a road slump. This time, Scott scored 21 points, 12 coming in the third quarter when the Lakers blew open a close game. He made nine of 15 shots, including a three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Lakers their first 20-point lead.

Johnson added 16 points and 17 assists, setting up low-post players for baskets, including a lob pass to Woolridge for a dunk with 4.9 seconds left in the third quarter that gave the Lakers their first double-figure lead.

Desperate for a victory, the Warriors (10-17) put up a good fight for a while, trailing 63-56 going into the second half. The Warriors were led by Chris Mullin, who had 25 points and 14 rebounds. Terry Teagle added 23 points and Mitch Richmond 22.

Laker Coach Pat Riley said he was not surprised by the Warriors’ tactics and was impressed by the swift way the Lakers exploited the matchups.

“We did a good job getting the ball down to our low-post people,” Riley said. “We just wanted to take it in, take it in, keep doing that. If we’re going to try to match jump shot to jump shot with that team, we’ll lose.”

There was little chance of that Friday night, after the Lakers decided to burrow in against the Warriors.

The Lakers made 51.4% of their shots, the second consecutive game they have made better than 50%. It was only the second time this season the Lakers have shot well in consecutive games.

“We did some good things tonight,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, this is an indication of things to come. We got out and put some points on the board.”

So, after struggling to turn back Minnesota and Sacramento in their previous two games, the Lakers enjoyed a rare easy night.

They now break for the New Year’s holiday with a 21-6 record, best in the NBA. They have won three in a row, seven of eight. And, Friday night being their final game in the 1980s, the Lakers finished the decade with a 584-222 record--a 72.5% winning percentage. “We’ve been blessed with talent, good fortune and good health,” said Riley, summing up the decade. “If not for the coaching, they would have won eight championships.”

Laker Notes

Golden State Coach Don Nelson said before Friday night’s game that he wants to coach the United States Olympic basketball team in the 1992 Olympics at Barcelona, Spain. “I would take a year off (of coaching the Warriors) to do it,” Nelson said. “I’d do whatever they (the U.S. Olympic Committee) would want me to do. It has been a dream of mine my whole life. I didn’t have a chance to serve in the Armed Forces, and I didn’t have a chance to try out for the Olympic team in 1960.” . . . Mike Schuler, Golden State assistant coach, confirmed that he will be interviewed today for the head coaching job of the Sacramento Kings. John MacLeod, the recently fired Dallas Maverick coach, is said to be the Kings’ top choice. Schuler is expected to be offered the job should MacLeod decline. Would Schuler accept? “That’s something I can’t possibly comment on until I talk to them,” he said. . . . Vlade Divac, the Lakers’ Yugoslav center, spent a day off on Thursday meeting with Dusan Ivkovic, the coach of the Yugoslav national team, in Los Angeles. Divac said Ivkovic is in the United States to check in on the Yugoslavs in the NBA. Divac, Drazen Petrovic of the Portland Trail Blazers and Zarko Paspalj of the San Antonio Spurs all will play for their country in international competition after the NBA season . . . Center Mychal Thompson returned Friday night after missing six games with bursitis in his left heel. Coach Pat Riley has suggested that Divac might start in Thompson’s place, or that A.C. Green might start at center against smaller teams, but Thompson said he would not mind coming off the bench. “I’m not worried about that,” Thompson said. “All I want to do is help us win. Of course, I do like that (starting), except when they announced my name, everybody said, who’s that?”’ Thompson, it turned out, did start Friday’s game.