Merciful Ending : A Season of Pain and Injury Is Over for Phoenix Suns

As he made a hasty retreat off the court and headed toward the locker room Tuesday night, Phoenix Sun Coach John MacLeod suddenly had his attention diverted. A friend pushed through the security guards and handed MacLeod his golf clubs.

In one swoop, MacLeod grabbed the bag, slung it over his shoulder and then continued walking. Starting today, you’ll no doubt find MacLeod and perhaps several Phoenix Suns on the golf courses, tennis courts or lounging around the swimming pools of this city.

Knowing the Suns’ luck, though, they probably will get hurt doing it. But at least they won’t incur any more injuries on the basketball court. Tuesday night’s 119-103 loss to the Lakers at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Game 3 of the best-of-five playoff series mercifully ended a season the Suns clearly want to forget.

The record will show that Phoenix won only 36 of 82 games and lost a total of 266 player-games to injuries. On the Suns’ bench Tuesday night, there were five players--three of whom were starters--in street clothes and only four reserves in uniform.

So, it wasn’t at all surprising that the Suns didn’t express great remorse Tuesday night because the season had ended so abruptly. Whereas the reaction in the Laker locker room was businesslike, as usual, the Suns were as upbeat as possible for a team that lost the three games by a combined 61 points.

When someone asked Suns’ forward Alvan Adams, the only regular who played in all 82 regular-season games, if it was a relief to finally end the season, he nodded his head vigorously.

“For those of you on radio,” said Adams, laughing, “that was a nod meaning yes. Mentally, this was my toughest season ever, especially those last three months. We were waiting for Walter (Davis, injured knee and ankle) to come back and he never did. And we watched Larry (Nance, groin injury) and James Edwards (back) go down.

“I, myself, am sore physically but more sore mentally. I just want to relax.”

Forward Maurice Lucas just wants to hit the golf course and not think about his future for at least a few weeks. Lucas, 33, has just concluded the final guaranteed year of his $650,00 Suns’ contract, and there have been indications that the Suns won’t pick up his option.

“I have no thought about next season,” he said. “Right now, I’m just going to unwind for a while and get my golf game in shape. If I can get my handicap down from 18 to about 12, I’ll be happy.”

Lucas, who led the Suns Tuesday with 26 points and 13 rebounds, would be even more happy if the Suns decide to keep him. If not, he said he’s certain another team would want his services.

“It’s not my decision,” Lucas said. “It’s up to Phoenix. But what happens, happens. I didn’t think about it tonight. I just wanted us to play well.”

Said Adams: “I think the Lakers are a great team. But I don’t know how much of a battle we gave them because of our lack of players. The thing I liked about the way they played is that they stayed inspired the whole series. There was no let-up the first two games, but tonight we gave them a better game.”

Comparatively speaking, Phoenix did play well in Game 3. A strong third quarter pulled the Suns within nine points (86-77) of the Lakers, but that was as close as they could get.

Laker Coach Pat Riley once again substituted liberally in the fourth quarter, but the Lakers still prevailed easily. MacLeod made it a point to publicly thank Riley for not completely blowing the Suns off the court in the three games.

“He (Riley) has done a great job and pulled them off, especially in the first two games,” MacLeod said. “They probably could have scored 170 points on us, but he didn’t try. He had us by the throat but he didn’t rub our faces in it. So, my hat’s off to him.”

A golf cap, no doubt.