Worthy and Scott Lead a Laker Boom Over Seattle, 110-96

Laker egos, recently as deflated as a used basketball, desperately needed the reinforcement that comes from winning in a manner so convincing that it would restore the confidence the Houston Rockets have siphoned from them.

They got it Tuesday night, breaking a five-game losing streak in their second game of the season by easily disposing of the Seattle SuperSonics, 110-96, before a crowd 10,426 at the Coliseum.

Strange as it may seem, the Lakers had to rediscover winning after losing four consecutive playoff games to Houston last spring and getting spanked by 10 points in Saturday’s season-opener at Houston.

But the Lakers returned to their pre-Rocket mode by running a pretty good SuperSonic team off the court with an impressive fast break and by matching Seattle’s inside strength. The result was a 14-point win and a restoration of the Lakers’ confidence.

“It seemed like everyone in the conference had a win except us,” Magic Johnson said. “We really needed the first win to get the pressure off us and get going. Now, let’s go on from here.”

Laker Coach Pat Riley, who has defended the honor of his team to the growing number of critics saying the club’s time has passed, laughed at himself when he called it a “must” win.

“You never say it’s a win you need when it’s only the second game, but it was,” Riley said. “There’s been a lot of burden on our backs, about us being finished and our trades. But we have a solid core of six or seven guys who are still some of the best in basketball.” That core looked exceptional Tuesday night.

After a shaky first half in which the Lakers eked out a 54-52 lead, they kicked it into overdrive and blew away the unsuspecting Sonics, who probably felt they were doing pretty well.

The second-half catalyst was guard Byron Scott, who had 14 of his 23 points during a third quarter in which the Lakers built a 12-point lead that stood up the rest of the way. Scott didn’t waste much time, beginning the second half by swishing a three-point shot and later dunking twice on the fast break.

“I had the feeling,” Scott said. “I was feeling good. When I let the shots go, most of the time, I knew they were going in.”

That feeling spread to forward James Worthy, who led all scorers with 26 points and added 9 rebounds. Worthy kept the Lakers close in the first quarter, scoring 12 points, and contributed 10 points in the third quarter.

Center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, perhaps the most important member of the Lakers’ core, played an important role. Abdul-Jabbar, going against Alton Lister, had 17 points and 7 rebounds and was praised by Riley.

“I thought Kareem gave an awesome effort,” Riley said. “He kept the ball alive, he kept fighting for it. He made us get second shots.”

That description also fits forward Kurt Rambis, who now carries the rebounding load. Rambis had 17 rebounds and 8 points.

Any hope of a Seattle comeback was thwarted in the fourth quarter when Michael Cooper came off the bench to score 14 points.

Seattle, which learned what it is like to lose its first game of the young season, was led by Tom Chambers’ 21 points and 10 rebounds and by Dale Ellis’ 19 points off the bench. As a team, though, Seattle shot just 39% to the Lakers’ 49%.

Further, the Sonics did not have Maurice Lucas around to provide instant conflict against the team that spurned him during the off-season. The former Laker was hospitalized with an infected elbow.

Seattle officials said Lucas suffered the injury after an opponent’s tooth slammed into his elbow. More likely, it was the other way around. Too bad, because Lucas butting heads with the Lakers figured to be a lot more competitive and potentially violent than just another Laker-SuperSonic meeting, which was close in the first half.

It was a struggle, but the Lakers managed to gain the 54-52 halftime lead in spite of themselves.

With 3:41 remaining in the half, the Lakers trailed, 49-46, and hadn’t scored in more than a minute. So, Riley called timeout to regroup, which the Lakers did--somewhat. They outscored the SuperSonics, 8-4, the rest of the way.

The Lakers also commited five turnovers during that span, but Seattle was able to turn them into only one basket. Therefore, the Lakers were able to sneak into the locker room ahead by two points when they could have easily trailed by that or more.

It wasn’t always like that for the Lakers in the first half. They played well in the last part of the first quarter, outscoring the SuperSonics, 18-8, in the last 5:29 for a 34-26 lead.

Frank Brickowski, the ex-SuperSonic, was partly responsible for the Lakers’ only big surge in the first half. Brickowski replaced Abdul-Jabbar with 3:29 left in the quarter and the Lakers holding a 24-22 lead. He scored his first basket against his former team on an aggressive drive with 1:32 left. With about 45 seconds left, the helped the Lakers build an eight-point lead when he dived on the floor for a loose ball, gained possession and passed to Worthy for a basket.

Fittingly, Brickowski scored the final points of the quarter, taking an Abdul-Jabbar pass and dunking it.

At that point, the Lakers were rolling and the SuperSonics appeared to be rolling over. But Seattle Coach Bernie Bickerstaff, who liberally substitutes, went to his bench. Eventually, it enabled the SuperSonics to take the lead, owing to 10 Laker turnovers in the quarter.

Seattle had its first lead since early in the first quarter when Terrence Stansbury dunked so violently that he landed flat on his back. That was part of a 16-8 Seattle run that erased the Laker lead and gave the SuperSonics a modest three-point lead.

The Lakers shot 52.7% in the first half, but 14 turnovers hurt. Also, they were outrebounded by Seattle, 25-21. The SuperSonics shot only 40% but attempted 52 shots to the Lakers’ 36.

Worthy was the most consistent Laker of the half, scoring 12 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Chambers had 14 first-half points for Seattle.