When Magic Is Passing Through, as on This Play, It’s an Eyeful

“James Worthy says you’ve got six eyes, but we can only see two,” a man passed along to Magic Johnson in the Laker locker room Saturday.

“No, no, I just got two, same as everybody,” Mr. Sunshine replied, laughing.

Well, maybe so. Maybe he does have only two.

One in the front, one in the back.

If you were at the Forum for this 119-107 Laker playoff success in Game 1 against Houston, you might have been momentarily blinded by a pass that Earvin Johnson threw. Or, at the very least, you might not have believed your eyes.

It was one of 18 assists--and don’t forget the 26 points--that Magic got in a performance that was both super and duper, even for him.

Those who did attend the game, 17,505 of them, were so impressed with Six-Eye Johnson’s pass that they rose en masse and exercised their lungs during the entire ensuing 60-second timeout called by the shell-shocked Rockets.

It happened late in the third period, and the result was a basket by Kurt Rambis that gave the Lakers an 84-72 lead. You can see for yourself that this was not an end-of-the-game, end-of-the-world situation--which only goes to prove that you cannot take your eyes off Magic Johnson for a second.

Surely the Rockets must have understood this in advance, but they did it, anyway.

The Laker captain and everybody’s favorite co-pilot, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, had just made a great save, balancing like a flamingo to keep a ball from going out of bounds. The ball wound up with Johnson, who quickly got clearance for takeoff to the other coast.

Upon arrival, Johnson noticed that there was no way to get to the basket, and no opening to pass. So, near the corner of the court, left of the hoop, he skidded to a stop and waited for Abdul-Jabbar, who was taking a break after dragging Ralph Sampson and Akeem Olajuwon up and down the court all day.

Everybody relaxed. Just for a moment. The fast break was over.

“That’s what I wanted them to think,” Six-Eye Johnson said, diabolically.

Squeezing the ball with both palms, waist-high, Magic suddenly hoisted it with his right hand, above his shoulder, like a baseball pitcher at the top of his windup.

Now, for his next impression: Dwight Gooden.

Whoosh . Fastball. Right down the pipe. Somebody should have put a radar gun on it. Jack Clark couldn’t have hit it.

The ball sped all the way across the lane, zooming right past Worthy’s head. Had Worthy made an abrupt move, the ball might have splattered against his goggles like a bug on a windshield.

Rambis grabbed it and deposited it.

“I knew he was watching me,” Rambis said. “When you’re open, all you got to do is stay open and he’ll get you the ball, somehow.”

Mortified, the Rockets called time out. Electrified, the crowd got to its feet.

“This was the first time I have ever seen a Laker crowd get so excited,” Laker forward Maurice Lucas said. “It brought chills to me.”

A man asked Magic where this one rated in his greatest-plays album.

“I don’t think you can put a percentage of thrill on it,” he said.

There are some people who live for game-winning shots, some for three-pointers, and some for slama jamas. But not Six-Eye Johnson. He lives to make passes, sort of like Italian men on street corners.

“It’s still the ultimate high to me,” he said. “I can’t get no higher than when I make a pass like that.”

For the record, Johnson acknowledged that, yes, he baited the defense deliberately, pretending to wait for Abdul-Jabbar. Considering Magic’s reflexes, it was entirely possible that this pass was spontaneous. But nope, he said. He played possum.

And a pretty good high, hard one, it was. Do any pitching in your younger days, kid?

“Nope, third base and first base,” Magic said. “I think all those throws from third base make your arm strong.”

There were 47 1/2 other minutes of basketball, obviously, and more than one good play. But this was the one that woke up the crowd--always a necessity if there is to be a home-court advantage--and shut down the opponents, knocking the eyeballs out of the Rockets’ sockets.

Johnson did that all day. “Magic is involved in 80% to 90% of the stuff they do,” Houston guard Mitchell Wiggins said, “so, if you cut out half of that, you’re doing yourselves a lot of good.”

There you have your plan of attack for Game 2, Rocket scientists.

Johnson believes that there will be more great plays to see in this series, from both sides. “Up and down, fan- tas -tic plays, great offense, you’ll see,” Magic said. “Both teams are so talented, so big and strong. Both teams are going to have to play at their most best to win a game.”

A scary thought is that perhaps Magic Johnson can play even more better than he did Saturday. The Rockets realize that. They know they have to watch him, watch him closely, watch him every second, if they are to keep Magic under control.

But when he shows up for Game 2 wearing goggles on the back of his head, they will know they have big trouble.