Abdul-Jabbar, Magic to Skip Last Trip; Worthy to Play
Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will not be here today when the Lakers play in a game that not only ends the regular season, but also ends the Kings’ 13-year stay in Kansas City.
Next season, the Kings will play in Sacramento, pending final action by the National Basketball Assn. Board of Governors, which is expected to routinely approve the shift Tuesday in New York.
If the Lakers defeat the Kings, Coach Pat Riley’s team will finish with a 62-20 record, which would be the second-best in club history, surpassed only by the 69-13 Laker team of 1971-72.
Riley decided to leave Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar home for this last regular-season game. Abdul-Jabbar did not play at all, and Johnson played only briefly in the Lakers’ last home game, a 145-131 victory over Seattle Friday night at the Forum.
James Worthy, who played only a part of the first quarter against the SuperSonics, has not been given the day off by Riley, but his playing time will probably be limited.
The Lakers have clinched the second-best record in the NBA behind Boston. They begin the first round of playoffs Thursday night in a best-of-five series against Phoenix.
The first two games will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Forum, with the remainder of the schedule still to be released.
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