Lakers Have It Easy in a 132-119 Victory Over Misfiring Pistons

All in all, it was a pretty rotten night for the Detroit Pistons. How bad was it?

It was so bad that Chuck Nevitt, the tallest Piston, scored his first basket 13 seconds after he came into the game, whereas Isiah Thomas, the most talented Piston, didn’t score his first basket until there were eight minutes left in the game.

“That was a bit of a problem,” Piston Coach Chuck Daly said. “But it happens.”

It happened to the Pistons Sunday night. So did eight points for the usually reliable Kelly Tripucka.

This was not the type of production that will beat many teams. Certainly, it couldn’t beat the Lakers, who took advantage of a rare off-night by Thomas to manufacture a 132-119 victory before a sellout crowd Sunday night in the Forum.

Thomas was playing with a hyper-extended knee that he injured on Thanksgiving Day against the Celtics. Although Thomas finished with 16 points, he made only 2 of 8 shots from the field.

“I can’t get any lift when I jump,” Thomas said. “I can only go straight and I can’t go laterally.”

Meanwhile, the Lakers can only go East. For the next week, they’re on the road. Now they can take a 20-3 record and the memory of a dizzying offensive performance with them.

All five Laker starters scored in double figures, led by James Worthy, who had 25 points. Thomas’ buddy, Magic Johnson, scored 19 points with 15 assists and broke the game open in the third quarter with a series of no-look passes on fast breaks.

Ahead by just six points at the half, the Lakers outscored Detroit, 41-24, in the third quarter to take a 105-82 lead into the fourth.

Detroit came into the Forum with a two-game losing streak. The Pistons had lost five of their last seven, including three straight at home, and their problems continued in the early going.

The Lakers got off to a quick start and jumped to a 41-28 lead after the first quarter when they outrebounded the Pistons, 15-4. Kurt Rambis had six rebounds in just eight minutes, and the Lakers led by 11 points.

With Rambis and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar each scoring eight points in the opening quarter, the Lakers moved to a 39-22 lead with 1:22 left.

Thomas, who did not have a field goal in the first half, left near the end of the quarter and did not reappear until the Pistons were well on their way to eating away the Laker lead in the second quarter.

But after making 17 of 27 field goal attempts in the first quarter, the Lakers made just eight of 19 in the second quarter.

So by the half, the Lakers led only 64-58. Vinnie Johnson scored 11 points in the first eight minutes of the second quarter when the Pistons started working over the Laker reserves.

Coach Pat Riley was resting all of his starters at the same time and his lineup of substitutes managed only one field goal the first four minutes of the second quarter.

The Lakers missed four free throws in the second quarter and committed five turnovers, which were just enough for the Pistons to stay close as the third quarter began.

They didn’t stay there for very long. It was still a four-point game until the Lakers went on a 10-2 run to take a 78-66 lead with 8:42 left.

Five minutes later, the Lakers had run off to a 102-77 lead when Johnson accelerated the running game into high gear. Three times on the fast break, Johnson threw no-look passes that ended in Laker layups.

After that came the first Forum chants for Nevitt. Even though Nevitt is now a Piston, it was still the signal that the game had been decided.

With a 23-point Laker lead going into the fourth quarter, it was certainly over for the Pistons.

Laker Notes In the pre-game introduction of the Pistons, former Laker Chuck Nevitt got a bigger ovation than four-time All-Star Isiah Thomas. . . . The Lakers leave today to start a stretch on the road of four games that begins Tuesday night against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The 7-17 Knicks scored 108 points in their last game, but before that, they were averaging 93.3 points a game, the lowest team average in the NBA in 29 years. . . . The Knicks have called a news conference this morning to discuss the condition of Bernard King, who has not played since tearing up his right knee March 23 at Kansas City. . . . The Lakers, 8-2 on the road, play Wednesday night at Milwaukee, Friday night at Cleveland and Saturday night at Washington.