It Isn’t Very Pretty, but Lakers Hold On to Defeat Kings, 115-113

At this stage of the season, Laker victories mean they’re one step closer to the playoffs. They’re lucky. Coming close and still losing doesn’t count for the Sacramento Kings.

“Moral victories mean nothing now,” King Coach Phil Johnson said.

That’s all the Kings got Saturday night. The Lakers got the only victory that counted, even though they had to struggle once again to do it.

The Lakers knocked the Kings down for the 17th consecutive time, 115-113, before 10,333 at Arco Arena, and for that, they can thank the coolness of James Worthy.

With the Lakers trying hard to hold on down the stretch, Worthy sank two free throws with nine seconds left to cinch the Lakers’ 11th victory in their last 12 games.

But until Worthy dropped in his free throws, the outcome was very much in doubt. Maurice Lucas had no doubt.

“Hey, that’s James ‘Ice Man’ Worthy we’re talking about,” Lucas said.

If the Lakers aren’t doing it with their normal fire, then at least they’re doing it with ice.

This is how the Lakers are playing these days. They’re playing just well enough to win, which really isn’t all that bad, considering.

These are desperate times for the teams the Lakers are playing, San Antonio one night and Sacramento the next. Both the Spurs and Kings are fighting for the last two playoff spots and hoping to avoid finishing in the last position from where they would meet the Lakers.

“I know it wasn’t particularly pretty, but we’re playing teams who are truly desperate,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said.

One reporter actually asked whether the Lakers could be peaking too soon.

“Too soon?” Riley said, raising an eyebrow. “Well, we’re winning.”

The Lakers haven’t lost to the Kings in more than three years, including playoff games, but they needed every one of Worthy’s 32 points to turn the trick again.

Unlike many of his teammates, Worthy was consistent in both halves. He scored 14 in the first and 18 in the second, yet none of his points were as big as the two free throws he hit when the Lakers could not put the Kings away.

With 47 seconds left, the Lakers led, 113-107. Then Eddie Johnson drove the middle for a basket, and after Mike Woodson deflected Michael Cooper’s jumper, Reggie Theus scored on a driving layup to cut the Laker lead to 113-111 with 10 seconds left.

Woodson fouled Worthy one second later, but Worthy did not hesitate when he walked to the free-throw line. Both shots were quickly up and in to give the Lakers just the margin they needed.

“I wasn’t worried,” Worthy said. “I knew I had to just put the crowd out of my mind and concentrate on the rim.”

A tip-in by LaSalle Thompson with four seconds left cut the Laker lead to only two points, but the Lakers ran out the clock. The inbounds pass went to Worthy, who literally ran out the clock.

Worthy ran to take the ball near the Kings’ free-throw line. When the buzzer sounded, he continued running off the court and without breaking his stride, Worthy laid the ball down on the baseline on his way out.

The Lakers were relieved to leave without tripping up.

“This was like a playoff game, really,” said Worthy, who admitted that the Lakers are not as sharp as they should be.

“We’re winning, but we’re not doing all the things all the time,” he said. “We’re not 100% consistent. Sometimes we do the things and we win, and sometimes we don’t do those things and we still win.”

In the beginning, the Lakers appeared sluggish, and that was understandable since they played a close game and won Friday night at San Antonio. The Kings jumped off to a 13-4 lead with Theus scoring 12 points in the first quarter.

Theus would finish, however, with only eight more. Soon, Lucas and Cooper got the Lakers going, and when Magic Johnson, who had 14 assists, finally got on track, the Kings fell behind and led only one time in the second half.

Riley got help from his nonstarters again. Lucas wound up with 9 rebounds in 19 minutes and Mike McGee had 13 points in 16 minutes playing for Byron Scott, who was limited to 17 minutes because of fouls.

The Kings found themselves down, 98-91, with 6:25 left in the game and got to 103-100 when Otis Thorpe went to the line. He made his first, but shot an air ball on the second.

“It was so embarrassing,” Thorpe said.

Other than that, the Kings had nothing to be ashamed of. And since they won again, neither do the Lakers.

Laker Notes

Coach Pat Riley, who used only eight players at San Antonio, played just nine Lakers against the Kings . . . Kareem Abdul-Jabbar worked 38 minutes and scored 20 points . . . Michael Cooper landed hard on his right elbow during the game. Precautionary X-rays will be taken Monday, before the Lakers play the San Antonio Spurs in the Forum.