Kareem, Lakers Show a Big Finish to Big D, 120-107

The Lakers finally got rid of the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night, 120-107, but not before one last taunt. Dick Motta didn’t do it, and Pat Riley didn’t do it, either. But guess who did?

If you said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then you can advance to the Western Conference final along with the Lakers, who will meet the Houston Rockets.

But first, Abdul-Jabbar had to say goodby to the Mavericks, so he did it with uncharacteristic bravado. Maybe Abdul-Jabbar’s manner explains what would happen to him later.

The whole thing began with only a couple of minutes left in the game and the Lakers safely ahead. Abdul-Jabbar walked to the first row of fans seated along the sideline of Reunion Arena and cupped one hand to his ear.

“I just wanted to hear what they had to say then,” Abdul-Jabbar said later. “It got kind of quiet out there.”

Then it got kind of wet out there.

As Abdul-Jabbar left the court after the victory that eliminated the Mavericks from the playoffs, he was doused by two full cups of beer poured by one fan in the stands.

“That was really bush,” Laker Michael Cooper said. “Some of the fans were poor sports.”

Abdul-Jabbar didn’t wait around long to say whether it was light beer. He took his second shower, the conventional kind, and disappeared in an elevator--not more than five minutes after his impromptu first shower.

But before the quick exit, Abdul-Jabbar made sure he was noticed. He scored 27 points in 38 minutes and singlehandedly took over the game when the Lakers went ahead to stay in the second quarter.

Abdul-Jabbar scored 11 of his 19 first-half points in the last six minutes of the second quarter, and the Lakers closed out the half with an 18-point advantage that Dallas couldn’t quite make up.

“Kareem wanted the ball,” Laker guard Magic Johnson said. “When he gets the look in his eye like that, nothing can stop him.”

So the Lakers are finished with the Mavericks, and now they can begin with the Rockets. It took two overtimes, but Houston closed out its conference semifinal series with Denver to earn the right to meet the Lakers in the final.

The best-of-seven series with Houston begins Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Forum. Extended to six games by the Mavericks, the Lakers believe they learned something from their experience.

“We learned that it’s not going to be an easy road, that’s for sure,” forward Kurt Rambis said.

They also discovered how to play when the road gets a little rough.

Referees Ed Rush and Joey Crawford were not calling a tight game, and that normally favors the more aggressive team. It was the Lakers who sensed the style of play first, which certainly helped them take a 69-51 lead at halftime.

Abdul-Jabbar, who had been somewhat passive during the series, changed all that in a hurry. He even got into a disagreement with Mark Aguirre.

When Aguirre scored inside to bring the Mavericks within 54-47, he apparently clipped Abdul-Jabbar on the chin.

“I got an elbow in the face,” said Abdul-Jabbar, who conducted a very brief postgame interview just before the doors closed on the elevator.

After Aguirre’s accidental blow landed, Abdul-Jabbar ran upcourt rubbing his chin and, on his way to his position, detoured slightly to place his left forearm beneath Aguirre’s chin.

Aguirre said something to Abdul-Jabbar and then tried to shake the Laker center’s hand. But Abdul-Jabbar kept his hand on his hip, so Aguirre eventually just touched it and walked away.

Although the Mavericks managed to close the Laker lead to 91-89, Cooper sank his fourth three-pointer of the game. Cooper’s basket, perhaps more than anything else, with the possible exception of Aguirre’s left ankle, doomed the Mavericks.

Aguirre, who scored 14 of his 28 points in the third quarter when the Mavericks rallied, twisted the ankle late in the quarter and had to leave the game.

“I could move up and down but not side to side,” said Aguirre, who came back briefly in the fourth quarter but was ineffective. “I told Coach Motta that it would be better to put a healthy player in there. I hated to leave, but I would have been too easy to guard.”

Even without Aguirre, the Mavericks went down hard. Rolando Blackman, who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, came back with a jumper after Cooper’s three-pointer to bring the Mavericks within 94-91.

“We retained our composure,” Cooper said. “We stick together, and Kareem is our glue.”

James Worthy and Johnson figure in there, too. Worthy immediately banked in a short jumper, and after Byron Scott rebounded a miss by Jay Vincent, who was playing for Aguirre, Johnson drove for a three-point play.

Johnson scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 21 points and 17 assists.

Blackman and Worthy scored, then Johnson and Vincent scored before Worthy and Scott gave the Lakers a safer lead, 105-98.

James Donaldson scored the last meaningful Dallas basket before Abdul-Jabbar got loose for consecutive baskets that finally silenced the boisterous Reunion Arena crowd.

Riley seemed relieved that his team was finally able to finish off the Mavericks.

“I knew we were going to be tested,” the Laker coach said. “I expected to be. I didn’t expect a cakewalk. Maybe this six-game series opened up our minds that it’s going to be tougher.”

Laker Notes This series might be remembered for all the nasty things that were said, most of them by Dallas Coach Dick Motta, but he felt no need to apologize. “The mind game got to be fun,” he said. “I did all the talking for my team to get them together. The Lakers had to play great to beat us. They will be much better prepared when they go on from here.” . . . Kurt Rambis said he wasn’t upset by anything that was said or reported in the newspapers. “I can’t read,” Rambis said . . . The 76 Laker turnovers tied a record for the fewest in a six-game playoff series. The Lakers set the mark last season in the championship series with Boston. . . . After the game, Mark Aguirre said he isn’t sure what’s going to happen to him, but he acknowledged that he has heard rumors he might be traded. “If they want me, then I’d be happy to play here,” Aguirre said. “But I hope that I never have to go through such a sensitive situation with Coach Motta like I did this year. I look at this season as a disaster. I hope they will allow me to blossom and be the player I can be.” . . . Laker Coach Pat Riley, who was unaware that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had been doused by beer, said nothing was dropped on him. “I can’t feel anything anyway because my hair is so hard,” Riley said. “It’s like a helmet.”