Did Shot by Scott Beat the Clock? : Pro basketball: Nuggets and replays say no, but officials say yes, in Lakers’ 106-96 victory over Denver.

DENVER —  Age and guile met strength and youth Thursday night. The later it got, the stronger the youths got.

Then fate took a hand. Three experienced referees didn’t notice that Byron Scott’s three-pointer had left his hands after the 24-second clock ran out. The Nuggets, complaining, drew a technical--which Scott also converted--resulting in a four-point play, and the Lakers won their fourth game in a row, 106-96.

Replays by the Laker telecast crew confirmed the shot clock showed :00.0 before Scott shot and the buzzer went off, too.

“Buzzer?” Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy asked, feigning innocence. “What buzzer?”

The Lakers, as usual, had their own problems.

After playing Wednesday night, they were supposed to be whisked here in the luxury of their chartered airplane, but mechanical trouble on the ground in Los Angeles pushed their arrival back from 2 a.m. to 4:40.

Then they had to face the Nuggets and their 1-2 punch of 7-foot-2 Dikembe Mutombo and 6-10 Cadillac Anderson.

At one point, the Nuggets were outrebounding the Lakers, 51-32.

Mutombo, double-teamed whenever he got the ball, had 23 points and 16 rebounds, making you wonder what he would do to the Lakers if they played him straight up.

“At altitude?” asked 6-9 Sam Perkins, the first line of defense.

“It was tougher than it looked. With him posting up, big as he is, fighting that, trying to get back and forth . . . But it’s always going to be a battle when you play a center of that caliber. You do what you can.”

What Perkins did was score 20 points, including one monster dunk over Mutombo after driving the lane, or as Perkins put it: “Woke you all up.”

With short rest and a short front line, the Lakers were still leading, 94-90, when Scott got his gift.

The outside shooting that Dunleavy bemoaned during the Laker losing streak was back with a vengeance. Scott had two other three-pointers and 28 points in all. Sedale Threatt had 16 and Terry Teagle 12.

The Lakers grabbed a 12-point lead in the second quarter, while Denver rookie Mark Macon launched bricks between turnovers and second-year man Chris Jackson ran the Louisiana State offense--by dribbling to the top of the circle and shooting.

The Nuggets caught up, going ahead, 67-66, in the third quarter.

The Lakers went back to a 90-80 lead with 5:46 left.

Back came the Nuggets, cutting it to 92-90 on Reggie Williams’ 20-footer. A moment later, their press forced a Laker turnover in the backcourt. Winston Garland came up with the ball, took it to the basket but missed a driving lay-up in traffic.

The ball bounced long to A.C. Green, who took it downcourt and hit Scott for a layup, making it 94-90.

Moments later, the Lakers were swinging the ball around as the shot clock ran down. The crowd was screaming. Scott caught the ball and turned it loose. It went in. Nobody waved it off.

Williams protested and was charged with a technical. Scott made that, so instead of 94-90, the Lakers led, 98-90.

“The horn (buzzer) was not heard,” referee Mike Mathis said to a pool reporter.

It will be remembered, though, probably longer than in Denver than in Los Angeles.

Laker Notes

The Lakers broke their club record, making all 27 free throws. Byron Scott made nine and Sedale Threatt eight. Mike Dunleavy, on the drill in which players have to make 12 in a row before leaving practice: “Some guys stayed overnight.” . . . Dunleavy, on the winning streak: “Last year we won our last 16 (before the All-Star break). We need to carry this out. We’re hoping to get Vlade (Divac) back after the break. We don’t know when, he’s still trying to figure that out, but I’ve seen glimmers of the old Vlade lately, which is good.” . . . The Lakers play host to Chicago Sunday, then play Monday in Phoenix. . . . In a schedule twist, the Warriors played the second of back-to-back games Wednesday at the Forum. The Lakers played the second of back-to-back games here Thursday. The Nuggets will now play the second of back-to-back games tonight against the Warriors in Oakland. “It’s a vicious cycle,” Nugget Coach Paul Westhead said, laughing, “and we’re getting the wrong end of it.”

* CLIPPERS

Team management, after pondering the issue for two months, still is split on whether Mike Schuler should remain as coach. C2