Lakers Can’t Handle Bucks, Get Celtics Next

The Lakers lost to another one of those Eastern Conference teams Tuesday night, the kind that takes you to the backboards and pounds on you as though they were tenderizing a steak.

And tonight, the Lakers have a lot to look forward to--the Boston Celtics, merely the best the NBA has to offer. They aren’t the Celtics, but the Milwaukee Bucks did a fair imitation of them, grinding the Lakers, 115-105, at the Milwaukee Arena.

Come to think of it, Detroit looked like the Celtics, too, when they clobbered the Lakers on Sunday. Now the Lakers are staring at the possibility of a 1-3 road trip.

“If somebody told me a week ago that I’d have to accept a 2-2 trip I’d have said no way,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “But right now, I’d jump at it.”

Even though they haven’t played like it the last two games, the Lakers are the best the Western Conference has to offer. That doesn’t seem to do them much good, though, when they have to play the best teams in the East.

Just as Detroit did on Sunday, the Bucks mashed the Lakers on the backboards. The Pistons took down 56 rebounds, 17 on the offensive boards and Milwaukee followed with 44 rebounds, a whopping 22 of them at the offensive end.

The Bucks’ victory, made easier by Terry Cummings’ season-high 39 points, dropped the Lakers season record against the East’s Big Five (Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee and Washington) to 2-4 and they haven’t even played Boston yet.

Tonight’s game at Boston Garden is the first meeting between the Lakers and Celtics this season, but few of the Lakers can quite forget the last time they played.

That was June 12, when the Celtics won the NBA championship in the seventh game of their title series.

“It’s not like playing them again is going to change anything,” said Magic Johnson, who scored 32 points against the Bucks. “In reality, I know we can’t get that seventh game back. No sense dreaming about it.

He’s had a long time to think about it, but last season officially ends tonight, Johnson said.

“Then it’ll finally be over with and we can get back to business as usual,” he said.

The Lakers, meanwhile, are in the business of getting wrecked on the backboards by the more aggressive East. They have been able to overpower their peers in the West, but not the Eastern bloc.

Milwaukee shot only 44.9%, but that didn’t matter because of their second and third shots after offensive rebounds. The Bucks took 22 more shots, which easily offset the Lakers’ 60.5% shooting.

At halftime, the Lakers were shooting 63% to the Bucks’ 40%, but the Bucks still led by four because of 17 offensive rebounds.

And it sure didn’t help the Lakers when they committed 22 turnovers or when they sent the Bucks to the free-throw line 34 times. There they scored 27 points compared to 12 by the Lakers, who attempted only 18 free throws.

In spite of everything, the Lakers were still in it until Cummings broke loose with 16 points in the fourth quarter. Cummings drove past Bob McAdoo for a 90-87 Milwaukee lead, then beat McAdoo again for a three-point play.

But no Laker defender really had much of a chance stopping Cummings, who made 15 of 27 shots after a shaky start. Riley tried Larry Spriggs, Kurt Rambis and McAdoo on Cummings and he beat all of them.

Sidney Moncrief, who had 28 points, scored on a drive just to show that Cummings wasn’t the only Buck who could produce offense.

Cummings scored five points more in succession, then after Johnson scored to bring the Lakers within 109-104, Cummings put it away with the type of play power forwards don’t usually come up with.

Cummings dribbled between his legs and fired a 20-foot jump shot with 2:02 left. After that, it was all over for the Lakers except for a plane ride to Boston.

Riley said that regardless of what happens tonight, he expects the Lakers to be in the championship finals.

“I know we’ll see one of three teams--Boston, Philly or Detroit,” said Riley. “I think it’ll be Boston. But I still think we will win the NBA championship with the team we have now.”

One thing the Lakers are going to have to do tonight is to keep the Celtics from parading to the free-throw line like the Bucks did.

For nearly six minutes of the fourth quarter, Milwaukee did not score a field goal. The Bucks didn’t need to because they had 12 points at the free-throw line.

Cummings finished with 9-for-11 at the line, but he was much more of a factor in other areas. Emerging as one of the better power forwards in the league, Cummings might already be the best. He thinks he is close.

“I’ve really always been a dominant force,” Cummings said. “I just played on the Clippers, a team that didn’t win. If I’m an All-Star, it’s been a long time coming. I’m very proud of what I do.

“I want to be part of the elite,” he said. “I do a lot of things power forwards don’t usually do. I can handle the ball, shoot it outside and run the floor. I can also rebound.”

The Lakers could clearly use some of that. James Worthy led the Lakers with 11, but Spriggs had just three in 27 minutes. Rambis came down with four in 10 minutes.

Byron Scott contributed 20 points on 10-for-14 shooting, but Johnson, who was 13-for-16, carried the bulk of the Laker offensive load.

Rebounding is most on the Lakers’ minds right now, whether it be by getting their hands on the basketball or on a victory against a team like Boston.

“We ain’t playing no bad basketball teams,” Johnson said.

No, just big, bad basketball teams from the East.

“We need to get our confidence back,” Riley said.

And all they have to do to retrieve it is to beat Boston.