Lakers Sweep Portland, but 60th Win Brings Yawn

Lakers’ won their 60th game of the season Tuesday night and afterward Magic Johnson was doing some wishful thinking.

“I wish we could start the playoffs tomorrow,” he said. “These are dangerous times. I almost caught an elbow in the eye and one on my hand. I just pray and hope nothing happens to anyone. We’ve got nothing to gain now except 63 wins.”

These are indeed slightly dangerous times for the Lakers, whose 120-114 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers underlined how the Western Conference champions are playing right now.

“They looked like they were bored stiff,” Portland guard Clyde Drexler said.

What did it take to shake up the Lakers? Being behind by six points in the last quarter worked pretty well.

At that moment, the Lakers went on a 9-0 run, then watched Kareem Abdul-Jabbar drop three straight high-pressure hook shots to put the Trail Blazers away and allow the Lakers to sweep their six-game season series with Portland.

“Abdul-Jabbar is an amazing player,” Portland Coach Jack Ramsay said.

However, the Lakers fell somewhat short of playing like an amazing team. Instead, they looked very much like a team trying to end the regular season and start the playoffs without having anyone get hurt.

Although you cannot really blame them for that, the Lakers are far from a finished product.

With only three games left before the playoffs begin next week, no longer is there any time left to develop a consistent dominating style like they did last year closing out the regular season.

Although the Lakers have won 17 of their last 20 games, many of them have looked a lot like Tuesday’s effort against Portland.

“We’re kind of like a horse that doesn’t run until its behind,” Laker forward Kurt Rambis said.

“We’re not going to all of a sudden win these last three games and suddenly have all the momentum we need to go into the playoffs,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll get it there, because we’re certainly not getting it now.”

Abdul-Jabbar finished with 26 points in 33 minutes while Johnson had 25 points and 10 assists in 41 minutes. He insisted the Lakers are right on schedule, considering everything.

“We don’t need any more momentum,” Johnson said. “We did what we had to do. Even if we finish the season 0-3, it won’t mean anything. It won’t mean we’ll be flat in the opening round. It’s just so hard now to be physically and mentally into it.”

Portland seemed a lot more into it than the Lakers. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 22 points to lead the Trail Blazers, but they were sparked more by rookie guard Terry Porter.

In 24 minutes, Porter burned the Lakers for 20 points, including a four-point play that ended the third quarter and put the Trail Blazers ahead, 84-82.

Actually, once the Trail Blazers figured out which basket to shoot at, they played a pretty decent game.

After Mychal Thompson won the tap, Kenny Carr scored a layup. The only problem was, Carr shot it into the Laker basket, which apparently put Carr temporarily into the record books as the leading scorer for both teams.

Eventually, official Paul Mihalik ruled that the play began illegally, when Drexler committed a backcourt violation, so Carr’s goal for the Lakers was wiped out.

Right after Johnson’s hook shot gave the Lakers a 78-70 lead in the third quarter, the Lakers took a nose dive. Over the next 9:24 they scored just two field goals and allowed Portland to take a six-point lead, 94-88, with 7:30 to play.

A little later, the Lakers collected themselves when the Trail Blazers led, 100-94, right after Jim Paxson’s inside move for a hoop.

The Lakers went on their 9-0 spurt, begun by Worthy’s two free throws. A three-point play by Johnson was followed by a breakaway layup by Michael Cooper and then Scott’s fast-break layup, on which he shook free of Paxson by dribbling behind his back.

Vandeweghe’s jumper cut the Laker lead to 103-102 with 3:28 to go before Abdul-Jabbar took over. Each of his three hook shots came after Trail Blazer baskets brought them to within three points.

Nine free throws in the last minute made the Laker victory certain. At this juncture of the season, the Lakers are not dominating, but they are just about through with the non-playoff part of their schedule and that’s success enough for them.

After all, no one is hurt and no one is really concerned, yet, about their style down the stretch. Especially Johnson.

“We’ve been in this situation so many times before,” he said. “Let’s just get the season over with and get into that first round. We’ll be all right.”

Laker Notes

The Lakers were outrebounded, 46-44. Mychal Thompson led Trail Blazers with 14; James Worthy led the Lakers with a scant six. . . . The Lakers should be paying attention to tonight’s game in Phoenix between the Suns and the San Antonio Spurs. If the Spurs win, they will be the Lakers’ first-round playoff opponent. If the Suns win, they still have a chance and so will the Clippers.