Abdul-Jabbar Borrows Shoes, Then Steps on Mavericks’ Toes

Playing in borrowed shoes, but clearly not on borrowed time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar personally dismantled the Dallas Mavericks Friday night. “I think he could play another five years,” Maverick Coach Dick Motta said. Instead, Abdul-Jabbar played another 33 minutes, during which time he scored 30 points and probably could have had more. The Lakers didn’t need any more. They beat the Mavericks with ease, 121-102, to begin a four-game trip on the right foot. Actually, the right two feet, both of them belonging to Abdul-Jabbar, who left his sneakers at home in Westwood and had to borrow a pair from the Mavericks. After playing a game Thursday night at Los Angeles, Abdul-Jabbar, an insomniac, managed to get in only three hours of sleep before the Lakers’ plane left at 7:20 a.m. Friday. Then, when Abdul-Jabbar got to the hotel here, he was given the wrong key. Abdul-Jabbar slept for a couple more hours, long enough to show up at Reunion Arena 10 minutes after the Lakers were already supposed to be in full uniform, sneakers included. None of the above mattered, however. Not fatigue, wrong shoes, wrong keys, the Maverick defense or anything else. Abdul-Jabbar, who had 27 points through three quarters, finished with 13 field goals in 17 attempts, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots and an impression in Mark Aguirre’s mind that he must be something other than a 37-year-old human. “It didn’t matter what he did, we couldn’t stop him,” said Aguirre, who was almost unstoppable himself with 28 points. “He was shooting left-handed, rolling either way with people hanging on him and still making his shot.” The Mavericks had won four straight and played at Kansas City Thursday night, so both teams should have been a little weary. Motta, however, was in form early. It took him only 13 seconds to pick up a technical foul, a lot shorter period than it has taken him to appreciate Abdul-Jabbar. “I’ve watched him for 16 years and I can’t remember him being any more awesome than he was tonight,” Motta said. “It wouldn’t have mattered who guarded him. We could have brought Nate Thurmond back from the old-timers’ game and it wouldn’t have mattered. “I’m an expert on him,” Motta said. “When he retires, I’m going to his party.” If Motta really were an expert, he should have known better than to use the kind of defense on Abdul-Jabbar that he asked the Mavericks to play. Most teams double-team Abdul-Jabbar, but the Mavericks waited until he put the ball on the floor to collapse on him. They’re still waiting. Abdul-Jabbar often double-crossed the Mavericks by going directly into his offensive move without dribbling. That left either Sam Perkins or Kurt Nimphius trying to stop Abdul-Jabbar without any help. “We made some mental mistakes,” Perkins admitted. “I tried to play him close up and he still made those hooks. His experience certainly pays off.” Rarely has that been more apparent. By the half, Abdul-Jabbar had 18 points and the Lakers had a 15-point lead. When Aguirre dropped in 16 points in the third quarter and the Mavericks closed to within 85-74, the Lakers came up with a big play to end the period. The Mavericks triple -teamed Abdul-Jabbar, who saw Michael Cooper alone just inside the three-point stripe and passed him the ball. By the time Cooper’s long set shot rained through the hoop, the Lakers were up by 13 going into the fourth quarter. Dallas got no closer than 10 points, but that lasted only long enough for the Laker non-starters to quickly put the game out of reach. Bob McAdoo, Cooper, Mike McGee and Kurt Rambis shot the Lakers to a 101-87 lead with 7:28 left and that was that. The Lakers had more than enough to survive an eight-point night from James Worthy. Magic Johnson had 18 points, 16 in the first half, while McGee had 15 points in 16 minutes and McAdoo 10 points plus seven rebounds in 16 minutes. Now that the Lakers have won 11 of their last 12 and 23 of their last 29, Cooper said the Lakers seem close to developing something they might have lacked earlier. “We should have been tired and it might have been a closer game, but I think we’re getting a killer instinct, now,” he said. “A 6 1/2-game lead isn’t enough. We want to make it 12 or so and take it from there.” Laker Notes

Magic Johnson had only five assists in 33 minutes, but that’s not his season-low. In the first Laker-Maverick game at Reunion Arena, Johnson had four . . . The Mavericks, who sold out the 17,007-seat Reunion Arena for the ninth time in 18 games, are averaging 16,392, or 96% of capacity . . . Jamaal Wilkes was the only Laker who did not play. Wilkes’ DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) was his fifth this year, the only five he has in an 11-year career . . . The Lakers travel to Detroit this morning and will play the Pistons in a nationally televised game at 9 a.m. PST Sunday at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.