Magic’s Touch Is Too Much for Mavericks : Johnson Scores 29 Points in a 114-110 Laker Victory

Texas high-rises may never be the architecture of the Lakers’ choice, whether it’s Houston’s Twin Towers or Dallas’ 7- by 7- by 7- by 7-foot skyline.

But Tuesday night, the Lakers didn’t need Frank Lloyd Wright to design a superior style, or at least one that worked for them in their 114-110 win over the Mavericks, who have four 7-footers on their roster.

The blueprint outlined by Magic Johnson, who scored seven points during a 15-4 Laker run that wiped out a six-point Maverick lead in the fourth quarter, more than sufficed before a sellout crowd of 17,007 in Dallas’ Reunion Arena.

The time may have come, Johnson said, to do something other than rely on the Lakers’ singular beacon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to carry them down the stretch.

“In years before, we always looked for Kareem to do it all,” Johnson said. “But starting last year in the playoffs . . . I’m looking to take the game over, to look for my shot.

“We’ve stopped relying just on him. We’re going to other people now, and that’s going to help our team.”

A lopsided 27-8 advantage at the free-throw line also helped. The overeager Mavericks put the Lakers into the bonus situation three minutes into the final period, while the Lakers were charged with only two fouls. The Lakers outscored the Mavericks, 19-0, from the foul line in the last period.

“We were able to sustain our defensive aggressiveness, pick it up an extra notch to the last minute,” said Laker forward James Worthy, “while they were in foul trouble and couldn’t be as aggressive.”

Johnson finished with a team-leading 29 points. Abdul-Jabbar scored one basket in the final quarter for the last 2 of his 19 points.

With so many teams double- and triple-teaming Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson said, “we’ve got to use him as a decoy, have other guys take charge. He’ll still get his turn, but other guys will get their turn, too.”

The Mavericks, like the Houston Rockets, had hoped their turn may have come against the Lakers, whom they extended to six games before losing in the Western Conference semifinals last spring. The Lakers, worn out by the effort it took to dispose of Dallas, tapped out in five games against the Rockets.

“They’re an elite team,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said.

The Mavericks were a hot-shooting team at the outset in this game, sinking 18 of their first 27 shots to take a 36-33 first-quarter lead.

“But knowing how they’ve blown out teams in the first period, it was a big key not getting down by 15 points,” Riley said.

Byron Scott’s 11 first-quarter points kept the Lakers in the game early, and the breakneck pace had to slow. The Lakers led by a basket, 61-59, at the half, but the Mavericks went ahead, 86-83, after three quarters and took a 94-87 lead when guard Derek Harper threw in a 22-foot bomb with 9:15 to play.

They still led by four, 98-94, when Johnson re-entered the game with 6:10 to play.

Abdul-Jabbar fed Kurt Rambis for a jam, Johnson made two free throws and Scott forged a 100-100 tie with an 18-footer off another Abdul-Jabbar feed.

Three Johnson free throws and an Abdul-Jabbar hook gave the Lakers a five-point lead. Perkins cut it to 105-102, and when Mark Aguirre stole the ball on a double-team of Scott, Harper broke ahead of the pack for a layup that would have cut the Laker lead to one. With Cooper trailing him, Harper missed the shot.

“I didn’t get fouled, I just missed it,” said Harper, who scored 22 points and had a career-high 14 assists. “I was going too fast. I was going too hard, and I flipped it up and it came out. I almost died.”

The Mavericks looked dead when after a Laker miss, Scott stole the ball from Aguirre and sent Johnson for a basket that made it 107-102 with 1:07 to play.

But Harper hit a three-pointer, and Aguirre, who led the Mavericks with 26 points, scored his only basket of the final quarter to tie the score with 52 seconds left.

Ball in to Kareem? No, Johnson on the drive. He was fouled by Aguirre, made both free throws, Rolando Blackman missed a jumper under pressure from Cooper and the Lakers shot free throws the rest of the way.

“They tell us we’re not tall enough, we’re not strong enough, we’re not this and that,” Johnson said after the Lakers’ sixth straight win. “And we just keep winning ballgames.

“We’ll just have to see what happens in the end.”

Laker Notes

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 10 rebounds, the first time this season he has been in double figures in that category. His counterpart, Dallas center James Donaldson, had a game-high 16 rebounds. . . . The Lakers shot 51.2% for the game, the first time this season they’ve been over 50% They made all three of their three-point tries, with Michael Cooper making two and Byron Scott one. Scott, who came into the game perfect at the free-throw line this season, missed his first one with 11 seconds to play after making 30 straight. . . . The last three seconds of the game dragged on for several minutes as Dallas Coach Dick Motta confused officials with his substitution tactics. At one point, the Mavericks had six men on the floor before officials figured out that Derek Harper had to go. “It’s a delay tactic,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “He (Motta) does that a lot. It’s a good play, but the officials have to be on top of it.” . . . Backup center Mike Smrek saw his first significant action of the season, playing 10 minutes. He scored one point and had no rebounds. . . . No. 1 draft choice Roy Tarpley, one of Dallas’ four 7-footers (the others are James Donaldson, Bill Wennington and Uwe Blab), scored six points in 10 minutes. “The Mavericks start big,” said Laker guard Michael Cooper, “and just get bigger and bigger.”

Clippers fall short: John Long and Wayman Tisdale help the Indiana Pacers to a 98-93 victory. Chris Baker’s story, Page 4.