Lakers Get a Scare, Then a Win, 110-102 : Magic Returns Against Mavericks, but He Might Miss All-Star Game

Magic Johnson returned to the Lakers Tuesday night and immediately announced he may be leaving again. No, the Lakers won’t be without him, but the NBA All-Star game might.

Johnson played 31 minutes in the Lakers’ 110-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the Forum, his first game in nearly two weeks after bruising his knee, then said afterward that he is seriously considering not playing in Sunday’s All-Star game at Dallas.

“If I don’t feel well, I won’t play,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to go in there and be injured, so there’s a chance I won’t play. I’ve still got a couple of days to decide, so if I can’t play my game, I’ll pull out Wednesday or Thursday.”

Johnson is one of three Lakers who were voted to the Western Conference starting lineup. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 21 points against the Mavericks, and James Worthy are the others.

Johnson, however, is the only player to ever receive more than a million votes in the balloting for the All-Star game. His loss would hurt, but probably not as much as the Lakers would be hurting if Johnson reinjured his knee in an exhibition game.

A six-time All-Star in his seven-year career, Johnson said that keeping his knee healthy may be worth sitting this one out.

“I’m still thinking about what I might do,” he said. “A lot might depend on how I feel when I play (Thursday night) at Houston.”

Whatever Johnson decides, the Lakers would certainly be grateful if he keeps his knee out of danger.

The Mavericks jumped off to a 13-2 lead to start the game and rolled to an 18-point advantage in the second quarter before Johnson began to feel comfortable out on the court. He looked a little rusty in the beginning.

“I think he needed a little oil,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said.

When Johnson came into the game in the first quarter, his first pass was an alley-oop that sailed over Worthy’s head and clanked off the rim.

“I didn’t feel strange, but when I let that pass go, it sure felt strange,” he said.

Johnson closed out the half after playing 12 minutes with 8 points, 6 assists and 4 turnovers. But the Lakers were able to eat into the Mavericks’ 57-39 lead and trail by only eight points.

They did so with a small lineup featuring McGee and Michael Cooper along with Kurt Rambis, Larry Spriggs and Abdul-Jabbar. The five put the Lakers in a position where they didn’t have to come from quite as far behind that it was impossible.

“I think that was just about far enough,” Riley said.

McGee scored 8 of his 21 points in the third quarter, and the Lakers finished it with their first lead of the game, 80-76.

Dallas had its five-game winning streak snapped, but the Mavericks were still in a pretty good position up until Abdul-Jabbar’s rebound basket midway through the fourth quarter.

Maurice Lucas batted Worthy’s missed shot into the hands of Abdul-Jabbar, who dropped the ball into the basket and was fouled. His free throw gave the Lakers a 96-90 lead.

James Donaldson then made one of two free throws before Lucas hit a jumper, Worthy scored on a breakaway dunk and Byron Scott came back with another. Suddenly, the Lakers led, 102-91, with 4:14 left.

Riley found the situation a nice change of pace, especially the way things have been going. In seven of their previous nine games, the Lakers had been outrebounded, but that statistic went by the boards Tuesday night.

Lucas pulled down 10 rebounds in 18 minutes to help the Lakers to a 53-25 advantage on the backboards. Rambis had eight in 18 minutes, while McGee established a career-high of nine rebounds.

Riley was grateful for whatever he could get, whether it was rebounding or Johnson’s return after six games nursing his sore knee.

“We’ve just been out of it,” he said. “Obviously, we’re not playing our best, but we got a victory out of it.

The Mavericks got 18 points from Sam Perkins, but Mark Aguirre scored just 12, 10 below his average, and Dallas Coach Dick Motta kept him on the bench for 24 minutes.

Coach and player have been feuding lately, but neither one said anything bad about the other after the game.

“Mark just wasn’t on his game,” Motta said.

Aguirre, who made only 4 of 12 shots, said Motta was right.

“I wasn’t playing extremely well,” he said.

Johnson’s play wasn’t extremely good, but it wasn’t that bad, either. It was more like the usual side-effects of a prolonged layoff. He finished with 14 points and 8 assists, but he also had a game-high 8 turnovers.

“I was a little rusty, no, a lot rusty,” Johnson said. “I didn’t get my game senses until after about five or eight minutes. The knee felt good, and there’s no swelling. At first, it was a little tender, and I was probably a little scared.”

Since the Lakers were 3-3 without Johnson, they’re probably more than a little scared of what would happen to them if he can’t play. The All-Star game will survive without him, but the Lakers might have trouble. With only one game left before the All-Star break, that’s something to think about.