Rockets Rocked Again as Lakers Win, 134-111

The Houston Rockets have had worse duds than their 134-111 blowout loss to the Lakers Friday night, their second loss in five nights to Los Angeles.

This is a team, after all, that earlier this season had the worst home-court loss in National Basketball Assn. history, a 56-point bath against the Seattle SuperSonics.

And Rocket forward Ralph Sampson, who scored four points and took just four shots Friday night, has had worse games. Last year in Portland, he scored two points.

Still, it’s hard to imagine that the Rockets, who straddled the prone body of the Lakers only last spring in the playoffs, could be toppled as easily as they were this time, especially in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers scorched them for 44 points on 19-of-23 shooting.

Don’t take that result too seriously, Kareem Abdul--Jabbar warned afterward.

“Other teams better not think the Rockets will be easy,” said Abdul-Jabbar, who in his first game back from an eye irritation scored 19 points, making five straight shots at one stretch in the third quarter. “The Rockets will get it together, and when they do, they’ll be just as tough as everyone thought they would be.”

For now, however, the Rockets are anything but tough. The only team they’ve beaten in their last six games is the Clippers, and their record of 10-16 puts them 7 1/2 games behind the Dallas Mavericks in the Midwest Division.

The Lakers, who never trailed after the midway point of the first quarter, ran their record to an NBA-best 21-6. Magic Johnson scored 30 points, giving him 30 or more points in four straight games, the first time he has done that as a pro.

Johnson also had 15 assists, including one pass he made while lying flat on his back at midcourt, sending the ball between the legs of Houston’s Robert Reid and on to Kurt Rambis for an easy stuff.

James Worthy had 22 points and Byron Scott 21, and the Laker bench made 13 of 15 shots from the floor.

The Lakers, who shot just 39.1% in the first quarter, shot 68% the rest of the game.

Akeem Olajuwon, who like Sampson did not score a basket in the first quarter, finished with 22 for Houston, despite operating on a sore right knee. Rodney McCray also had 22.

Sampson picked up three quick fouls and a technical foul in the first quarter, sat out the rest of the half, and made just one shot in 30 minutes.

“It’s my fault I took just four shots and had a bad game,” Sampson said. “I shouldn’t have even played because I didn’t do anything.”

But after pleading mea culpa , Sampson suggested--in controlled but irritated tones--that the reason that the Rockets remain at ground zero has something to do with mission control--namely, Coach Bill Fitch, although Sampson never mentioned Fitch by name.

What Sampson did say was that Dirk Minniefield, the Rockets’ newest point guard, is too busy receiving signals from the sideline to effectively run the Houston offense.

“We’ve got to be in sync, and this team’s not in sync,” Sampson said. “I don’t know what we have to do. I’m not a coach, but I’ve never been in a situation like this before.

“When you have to look over to the bench when you’re calling a play, you’re going to hesitate and second-guess yourself. You’re not going to be positive.”

The Rockets aren’t running the way they should, Sampson said.

“No basketball, no fun,” Sampson said. “We’ve got to get out there and run.”

Fitch seemed bemused by Sampson’s remarks.

“I don’t think the offense is near as much a problem as the defense right now,” Fitch said.

“I’m not directing that much. I’m not doing anything different than I’ve done before. I may direct less from the sideline than a lot of coaches, maybe even Pat (Riley).

“The point guard situation is just one of many.”

The Rocket situation is this: Olajuwon is still hobbling, Sampson was hurt earlier, Reid just came back from arthroscopic surgery and Minniefield has been here a grand total of eight games.

“It’s going to take time for us to get back to where we were last year,” Olajuwon said. “Right now, we’re trying to concentrate a little more and catch up as a team.”

The Lakers, meanwhile, are cooking at optimum level.

“It seems like this year they’re not saying to themselves, ‘Let’s get the regular season over with because everyone knows we’ll be in the finals,’ ” Houston’s Reid said.

“They’re playing every game like they think they have to prove they’re going to make the playoffs. When the Lakers have that kind of intensity, they’re going to kick some teams.”

Laker Notes After a week of being sidelined by recurrent corneal erosion syndrome, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said his right eye was fine Friday night. The condition occurred, Abdul-Jabbar said, on the flight to Houston last Friday. The air conditioning on the plane caused the tissue around his cornea to dry out, and it started to peel off. “It’s the same type of injury people with contacts get when they leave their contacts in too long,” said Abdul-Jabbar, who said he was susceptible to the condition because of the past occasions when he’s been scratched in the cornea. “Usually on a plane I keep a blanket over my head and I don’t have that problem.” Abdul-Jabbar has been given eye drops for the condition. Said backup center Mike Smrek: “Maybe we should appoint a guy to be eye-dropper for the Cap.” . . . Has anyone seen Billy Thompson? The Lakers’ No. 1 draft choice has not played in six straight games, 10 overall.