This Time, Lakers Are More Lucky Than Good : Lucas’ 60-Foot Shot Gets Them Into the Overtime, and They Beat Jazz, 131-127

Maurice Lucas threw up a Laker prayer Wednesday night. Lo and behold, it was answered.

“Somebody up there likes them,” said Utah’s Adrian Dantley.

A little bit of luck floated down from the rafters of the Salt Palace and touched Lucas. At nearly the same instant, the Lakers were on their way to winning a game they clearly should have lost.

Lucas sent a three-pointer from 60 feet away straight through the hoop with no time left to send the game into overtime, where the Lakers eventually wound up with an unusual 131-127 victory over the Utah Jazz.

It was not your normal NBA game, not by any stretch of the imagination, which was stretched to its limits by the shot by Lucas. The Jazz led, 120-117, with only three seconds left when Lucas heaved the ball with two hands in a shot that had desperation written all over it.

When the ball hit the bottom of the net, Laker Coach Pat Riley reacted in the only way he could.

“I laughed,” he said.

Lucas threw his arms in the air and performed a little dance step on the court.

“I was surprised as anybody,” he said. “I thought it was funny, so I laughed. I just threw the ball. It has got to be pure luck.”

Yes, the shot clearly belongs in that category. Lucas has made only eight other three-point shots in 54 attempts during his 12-year career.

“I can’t remember the last one I made,” he said. “But I told the fellas afterwards that I was perfecting that shot in the shower room.”

Even after the shot, the Lakers still had a small matter of beating the Jazz in overtime. But in the extra period, Lucas’ shot seemed to have a residual effect on both teams.

“You’re destined to win after a shot like that,” said James Worthy.

Riley said the Jazz seemed stunned, and rightly so.

“It had to be a killer for them,” he said.

Actually, the Jazz wound up snuffing themselves. With 15 seconds left and the Lakers ahead only 128-127, Utah had the ball at midcourt after a time out.

Once again, the Lakers were lucky. John Stockton broke one way to get the inbounds pass from Dantley, who threw the ball the other way, directly to Magic Johnson.

Stockton couldn’t do anything but foul Johnson, whose two free throws settled the game, once and for all, with 13 seconds left.

The Lakers managed to escape with a victory on a night when their starters played poorly. Johnson was the only one who was up to par, finishing with 29 points.

Everyone else on the first team was pretty forgettable. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Byron Scott were a combined 10-for-36 from the field and Kurt Rambis and James Worthy were mired in foul trouble.

As a team, the Lakers shot 44.7%, down from their season average of 53%. They committed enough fouls and turnovers at the wrong time to cost them a normal game, but since they weren’t involved in a normal game, it didn’t matter.

Dantley didn’t seem to be slowed very much by a pulled groin muscle that forced him out the last Jazz game. He scored 36 points in flurries, including a three-point play that cut the Laker lead to 128-127 with 36 seconds left in overtime.

On that play, the Lakers made a little mistake. They forgot to guard Dantley.

“By the time we looked up, A.D. had it and went in,” Johnson said.

When Abdul-Jabbar missed a hook, the Jazz had one more chance to win, only to mess it up when Johnson stole Dantley’s inbounds pass.

“Things happened that never happen,” Johnson said.

One of those things was Abdul-Jabbar’s shooting. But at least he was consistent and finished with 5-for-19. Abdul-Jabbar missed five free throws, he missed hooks and he missed a whole series of jumpers that might charitably be called innovative.

In spite of it all, the Lakers still won. Riley said much of the credit must go to his non-starters, principally Lucas, who had 21 points, and Michael Cooper, who had 8 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

Karl Malone played 44 minutes for the Jazz and had 25 points, but he failed to score in the overtime.

Utah Coach Frank Layden accepted the defeat with a shrug.

“That was luck,” he said. “You let Lucas do it 100 more times and he may never make another one. There is a certain amount of disaster in every game. If it was predictable, it wouldn’t be any fun. This isn’t Pac-Man we’re playing out there. It’s basketball with humans. They miss some and they make some.”

This time, the Lakers made the one that counted. The shot by Lucas proved something, Mitch Kupchak said.

“If somebody tells you to bet the house on a sure thing, don’t bet,” Kupchak said.

Laker Notes

In a story in Tuesday’s Times, it was incorrectly stated that Terry Tyler had been kept out of a game by Sacramento Coach Phil Johnson. Tyler has played every game since he signed as a free agent with the Kings. . . . The Lakers are back in the Forum Friday night to play the Houston Rockets.