NBA PLAYOFFS : THE LAKERS : Spurs’ Triumph May Be in Avoiding a Sweep

For the third year in a row, the Lakers will open the playoffs against a team they ought to sweep.

In 1984, the Lakers played Kansas City and swept the Kings. Last season, it was the Phoenix Suns on the wrong end of the broom.

Tonight, the San Antonio Spurs will gather at the Forum, hoping to avoid a quick, three-game brush-off.

Can they do it?

“All I know is that the Lakers are supposed to win it,” San Antonio Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said. “All the pressure is on them. I see no reason for us to be tight. But we do have to play sensationally to beat them.”

That may not be possible. But even if the Spurs aren’t given much of a chance of defeating the Lakers in their best-of-five series, it’s shaping up as a battle of the ages.

Center Artis Gilmore, at 36 the oldest, tallest free agent center in the NBA, will go against 39-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a matchup between veterans whose hairlines are receding faster than their skills.

“I’ve told Kareem before that bald-headed guys shouldn’t be able to play in this league,” Fitzsimmons said. “And every time I tell him that, he takes it out on me.”

The strength of the Spurs is a front line that features 6-foot 9-inch David Greenwood and 6-10 Steve Johnson and is anchored by the talents of the 7-2, 270-pound Gilmore.

If the Spurs have any hope of knocking off the Lakers, they’re going to have to do it with their big players, so Gilmore’s impact on Abdul-Jabbar may go a long way toward determining how long this series lasts.

“Artis has always given me a lot of trouble,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He’s so big and strong that you have to establish your position on the court or he’ll take it away from you.”

Laker Coach Pat Riley said he wants to use Abdul-Jabbar up to 40 minutes a game, but that Abdul-Jabbar has to stay out of early foul trouble, which he recently has been falling into.

Riley said there was no doubt that there are a few areas in which Abdul-Jabbar must improve during the playoffs. One of them is rebounding, Riley said.

“I know he can rebound in double figures if he concentrates,” Riley said. “Secondly, I’m a little concerned about his foul trouble. He’s been getting two fouls early or three fouls in the first half. We can’t afford that.

“I would like to see him contesting more shots, going up instead of reaching and that has to do with defensive position,” he said.

When Fitzsimmons coached at Kansas City, he sometimes defended Abdul-Jabbar with only one player, but if the Spurs decide to double-team Abdul-Jabbar, Abdul-Jabbar must be more aware where the defense is coming from, Riley said.

“He’s going to have to pick out accurately the guys who are open,” Riley said.

The Spurs know that sooner or later the ball is going to come to Abdul-Jabbar. So in order to prevent San Antonio’s defense from jamming the lane and waiting for him, the Lakers have different ways to pass the ball to Abdul-Jabbar.

Sometimes, the Lakers will get him the ball quickly, and other times they might swing it to the other side of the court, then bring it back to Abdul-Jabbar.

As usual, it will be Magic Johnson’s job to figure out which way to go.

“But no matter how we get the ball to Kareem, the defense knows that at some time, it’s going to end up in his hands,” Riley said. “So they ignore everything else.

“But at the end of the game, you’re not going to fool anybody. You’ve got to get him the ball and he’s got to make the play, whether he goes to the basket or he develops the offense from the inside out.”

The Lakers plan to run as much as they can, which they hope will tire Gilmore more than Abdul-Jabbar, who showed no signs of slowing down during the regular season.

Abdul-Jabbar’s points-per-minute average was his highest in five years. He averaged 33.3 minutes a game, second only to Johnson’s 35.8, scored 30 or more points 13 times and scored 20 or more points 56 times.

“The regular season is so long, but the playoffs are emotional so I can get into whatever the game dictates,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I don’t have to think about anything but the playoffs, so mentally I’m prepared and physically I’m ready.”

Gilmore’s season was an unusual one for him. In his 15-year career, he has missed only 64 games, but this season he sat out 11 games because of either a pulled right hamstring or a strained right shoulder.

“Without Artis, we had no chance to win any games,” Fitzsimmons said. “I’m not putting pressure on Artis that he has to carry us this series. We have Artis, and they have Kareem. I’m not going to say we’re going to shut Kareem down, but that’s Artis’ job, to handle Kareem.”

Speaking of jobs, Gilmore wants one next season. When the playoffs end, he will be a free agent, looking to improve on the $634,000 salary he was paid this season.

If Gilmore needs more incentive to play well, Abdul-Jabbar said he certainly has one now.

“When we played them in the first game of the year, Artis told me he wanted to have a good showing and prove his worth,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

Gilmore, however, said that he has nothing really to prove and prefers not to think too much about a new contract.

“The most important thing to me is to really have a good playoffs,” he said. “That is where my concentration is right now. Everything else is secondary. This playoff is important to me personally because the team situation relates to my success. If I have great success, then the team has success.

“As far as my matchup with Kareem, it’s a tremendous showcase for old age,” he said.

Laker Notes Kurt Rambis missed the last two games of the season with a bruise above his right knee, but he will start tonight. Wes Matthews, troubled by a kidney problem, will start for the Spurs, but he is expected to have surgery to correct a blockage of the tract between his kidney and bladder after the season. “We can’t afford to lose anybody,” Spur Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said. “We’ll need everybody and some help from the Man up above.” . . . Spur guard Johnny Moore, who was hospitalized Dec. 26 and missed the rest of the season with desert fever, a form of meningitis, received further treatment Tuesday in San Antonio, but he will be at the Forum to watch tonight’s game. . . . The Lakers, who led the NBA in scoring this season at 117.3, averaged 126.3 a year ago in the playoffs when they outscored opponents by an average of 10.2 a game.

This will be the third Lakers-Spurs playoff series. The Lakers beat San Antonio, 4-0, in 1982 and 4-2 in 1983, in the Western Conference final. . . . Although the Lakers led the NBA with a .522 shooting percentage, they failed to shoot higher than .500 in any of their five meetings with the Spurs this season. The Lakers were 4-1 against San Antonio this season. Magic Johnson averaged 22.0 points, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 21.6. Maurice Lucas led the Lakers with an average of 10 rebounds. Mike Mitchell averaged 22.6 points against the Lakers. Guard Alvin Robertson was the Spurs’ top rebounder (6.8) and playmaker (5.8 assists) against the Lakers. . . . Fitzsimmons has not coached a team in a victory in the Forum since February, 1974. That’s a string of 28 games. . . . Pat Riley’s .710 playoff winning percentage is the highest in NBA history. His playoff coaching record is 49-20, and his victory total is one short of Dallas’ Dick Motta among active coaches.