On Lakers, Garbage Time Is Piling High : . . . Even Minus Magic and Rambis, Beating Clippers Is a Breeze, 112-96

With both Magic Johnson and Kurt Rambis sidelined because of injuries, and soon to be joined by Marques Johnson, the Lakers and Clippers took a novel approach to Thursday night’s matchup.

This one had ugly written all over it. So the Clippers obliged, since they own the book rights. They threatened just twice, but unfortunately only once after the first jump ball, and according to their custom, fell meekly to the Lakers.

The score this time at the Forum was 112-96 in a game notable for who didn’t play and also for one who did. The arrival of the newest Clipper, Darnell Valentine, just happened to coincide with the Lakers’ ninth consecutive victory over the Clippers since the Clippers moved to town from San Diego.

This is not the best way to maintain a rivalry.

“You have to be competitive for that,” Clipper Coach Don Chaney said. “Unless we win some games, the rivalry will not begin.”

Along those same lines, the beginning of Valentine’s days with the Clippers was not particularly auspicious. Valentine, who hasn’t played since Dec. 13 in Portland, showed the effects of his prolonged layoff.

He was welcomed into the Clipper fold in a seven-minute stint, during which time he failed to score and committed four turnovers.

He ended the game by dribbling the ball off his foot. A.C. Green scooped up the ball and dunked at the other end.

Afterward, Valentine said it’s going to take awhile to get his timing down. After all, he said he only knew one of the Clipper plays.

“I could have played better, but my goodness, I felt naked out there,” he said. “I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing.”

In that case, Valentine fit right in with his teammates, who blew perhaps their best chance in the last two seasons of beating the Lakers.

“We had the opportunity to beat them,” Chaney said. “They were crippled, and we didn’t do the job.”

Neither Magic Johnson nor Kurt Rambis played because of injuries. Johnson has a bruised knee, and Rambis has a sprained left ankle, but even with two starters out of the lineup, the Lakers had enough left to stencil a grimace on Chaney’s face.

“It’s getting to me a little bit,” Chaney admitted.

What got to him most was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 26 fairly effortless points. Byron Scott had 23 points, and A.C. Green had 21, but that wasn’t the best part of the Laker game. Rebounding was.

Maurice Lucas stepped in to replace Rambis at power forward and produced his season high of 14 rebounds, which represented the largest portion of 54 that the Lakers collected. The Clippers managed only 28 rebounds, 9 by Benoit Benjamin.

That wasn’t enough to keep the Clippers close. They made their move only when the Lakers started throwing the ball away in the third quarter. Four consecutive Laker turnovers helped the Clippers close within 63-61.

But then Abdul-Jabbar, Scott and Green shot the Lakers into a comfortable 84-69 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“I wasn’t really looking at the score, but pretty soon it was down to two points,” said Worthy, who had 19 points as well as 5 blocked shots. “We had to regroup and get back into our offense.”

Since Johnson wasn’t available, that was Michael Cooper’s department. Cooper passed out 13 assists and even pulled down 9 rebounds to improve his record to 3-0 in games he has started because Magic wasn’t there.

“Don’t talk about it,” Cooper said. “I don’t want to start any jinx.”

The Clippers now know all there is to know about bad luck. But even if they didn’t, they were suddenly reacquainted with it when Marques Johnson left the game in the third quarter after his right leg tightened up.

Johnson had been kneed in the first quarter and could only play 20 minutes. He scored just 6 points.

Kurt Nimphius, scoring mainly on perimeter jumpers away from Abdul-Jabbar, led the Clippers with 21 points. Benjamin was next with 12.

In the meantime, the Lakers are not certain when they will see Rambis again.

His streak of 197 consecutive games, including playoffs, ended Thursday night because of his foot problems. When the Lakers leave town for a three-game trip, they won’t take him with them.

How long will Rambis be out?

“Who knows,” said Coach Pat Riley, who had a few words for his team before the game.

“I told them we were always accused of being the deepest team in the league, so it was time to show it,” Riley said. “They did.”

While the Lakers improved their record to 31-6, the Clippers continued moving in the opposite direction. They are 13-28 and counting.

Norm Nixon, perhaps the most troubled Clipper, scored 11 points in 28 minutes. And although he had 12 assists, that couldn’t take his mind off his other problems, which include the recent rumors of a trade.

“Right now, I’ve got enough things happening to me away from the court that it is tough to even concentrate on playing,” he said.

“To experience all the losing we’ve done the past two years, then have to go through the situation this year, it’s very, very frustrating.”

Laker Notes Clipper General Manager Carl Scheer said Thursday that in spite of what Norm Nixon may think, the Clippers have no intention of trading Nixon, at least now. “We’re not trading him, and I told Norm that today,” Scheer said. “When the (Feb. 15) trading deadline comes and goes, then Norman will know that I was telling him the truth. I can’t say what’s going to happen at the end of the season, but I can tell you we are absolutely not going to trade him (by Feb. 15).” . . . Last season at this time, the Clippers were only three games below .500, 19-22. . . . The Lakers leave today for Detroit to begin a three-game trip. They play the Pistons Sunday afternoon, the Chicago Bulls Monday afternoon and the Boston Celtics Wednesday night before returning to face the Clippers again, next Friday night at the Sports Arena.