Lakers Lose Abdul-Jabbar, Game : He Gets the Flu, Then San Antonio Gets a 122-108 Win

Considering that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in Los Angeles with the flu and that Magic Johnson has a damaged right knee and that they had played 24 hours earlier in Denver, the Lakers could not realistically expect to maintain their momentum of the last month Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.

Even without injured George Gervin, the Spurs entered this game with the advantage of having had two days off. It showed in their play as they won without too much difficulty, 122-108, before a crowd of 11,627 at HemisFair Arena.

It was the Lakers’ first truly poor game since the last day of February, when they lost by 12 in Phoenix.

Since then, they had won 14 of 15 games, assured themselves the homecourt advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs with a 118-104 victory Tuesday night in Denver, and begun to strike fear in the hearts of the fearless Boston Celtics.

Only a few days ago, the Celtics had a firm hold on the race to finish with the National Basketball Assn.’s best record.

That’s important because it would give them the homecourt advantage in all of their playoff rounds. It might have been the difference in their championship series victory last season over the Lakers.

But after two straight losses, the Celtics’ lead over the Lakers dwindled to three games Tuesday night.

So, after the Celtics had broken the losing streak by disposing of Indiana earlier Wednesday night, a Boston official called the press table at HemisFair Arena to ask for the score of the Lakers’ game.

A San Antonio official told him the Spurs were leading comfortably.

After the Spurs had won comfortably, extending the Celtics’ lead to four games with only six games remaining, Laker Coach Pat Riley finally admitted that his team’s chances of catching Boston are unrealistic.

“I thought that if we could get through this game, we might have a shot,” Riley said.

He might have had a feeling the Lakers wouldn’t make it through this game at about 5:30 a.m., when Abdul-Jabbar called him in his Denver hotel room and told him he was going home.

Abdul-Jabbar gave it all he had Tuesday night despite the flu, finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds against the Nuggets, but had nothing left over for Wednesday night. It was the first game he has missed this season.

Riley responded by making forward James Worthy the focus of the offense. In a similar situation last season, when Abdul-Jabbar had a migraine headache, Worthy took over and scored a career-high 37 points against Portland.

Given more operating room inside because of Abdul-Jabbar’s absence, Worthy made 14 of 23 shots against the Spurs and had a season-high 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

But other than Worthy, the Lakers weren’t effective in their set offense, and scored more than half their points off fastbreaks.

Without Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers often seemed lost on offense.

“Our umbilical cord to him is almost irreversible,” Riley said. “Any time a play breaks down, we can get the ball into him and he’ll get us a good shot.” The Lakers couldn’t depend on too much help from Johnson, who estimates he is playing at 50% effectiveness after hurting his knee Sunday night.

He had 11 points and 13 assists against the Spurs, but wasn’t able to create more scoring opportunities because he didn’t have the mobility to drive to the basket.

Besides, Worthy’s scoring was more than offset by San Antonio forward Mike Mitchell, who, working on Kurt Rambis, had 19 points in the first quarter and finished with 36.

Rambis made up for his defensive lapses to an extent with a season-high 16 rebounds. Mitchell led San Antonio with 14.

The other San Antonio player who had the Lakers talking to themselves was point guard Johnny Moore, who had 17 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds and 8 steals.

As a team, the Spurs had 15 steals, contributing greatly to the Lakers’ 26 turnovers. The Spurs scored 28 points off those turnovers, while the Lakers scored only 11 off the Spurs’ 16 turnovers.

Another factor was rebounding. The Lakers outrebounded the Spurs, 47-42, but San Antonio converted its offensive rebounds into nine more points than the Lakers did. They took 22 more shots than the Lakers.

San Antonio also was perfect, 17 for 17, from the free throw line.

So it was an all-around good game for the Spurs, who have won four of their last five games and have climbed above .500.

Of all the other Western Conference teams, the Spurs probably give the Lakers the most problems. Three of the five games between the teams this season were decided by one point. The Lakers won three of the five, but it was the first time in five seasons they have won a season series from San Antonio.

Considering that, perhaps Abdul-Jabbar’s presence wouldn’t have changed the outcome Wednesday night. But the Lakers would have liked to try it with him.

Laker Notes Magic Johnson said he may have X-rays taken of his injured right knee when the Lakers return home today. “I’m concerned,” he said. “I want to find out what’s wrong.” . . . The Lakers return home for a game Friday night against Kansas City. . . . Starting in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s place Wednesday night was Mitch Kupchak, but he was ineffective. In 20 minutes, he had two points and three rebounds.