Nuggets Latest to Be Caught in L.A. Stampede

In Boston, where Bill Walton is the 7-footer in street clothes sitting at the end of the bench, they’re worried about all the minutes the Celtic starters have to play.

That problem doesn’t exist in L.A., where nine Laker players scored in double figures in the team’s 147-109 win over the Denver Nuggets Wednesday night at the Forum.

Having trouble keeping your blowouts straight? Well, the Lakers--who have won by an average of 23.1 points during their current eight-game winning streak--have had nights where they’ve scored more points. Try last Friday, when they rolled up 155 against Phoenix.

But they haven’t had nights where they’ve won by more than the 38-point spread by which they demolished Denver. At the moment, though, every night’s a Buss-man’s holiday at the Forum, and Laker owner Jerry Buss returned home from vacation just in time to watch this one.

The Laker starters got to watch much of this one, too, after erasing a 7-point Denver lead with a 14-0 run in the second quarter, building their own lead to 16 at halftime and going up by 30 after three, 112-82.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was on the bench during the second-quarter splurge, sat down for good with 5:57 left in the third quarter. His night’s work: 14 points and 9 rebounds in 23 minutes.

At 5:10, Michael Cooper replaced Magic Johnson, who departed with 20 points and 12 assists. Next to come out was James Worthy, who scored 16, including 10 after the intermission.

“We’ve got no chance of beating them this year--unless we really come on and they slack off,” said a despondent Doug Moe, coach of the Nuggets, who have won just 3 of 19 games on the road.

“They’re playing with a lot more fire. Two years ago, they were awesome. Last year, I thought they could be beat--something was missing.

“This year, they’ve got the same ingredients, but the main thing is Magic, Kareem and Worthy are on fire. They got their life.

“The other guys, you can change their names and faces. I mean, they do a nice job, a good job. But the other three determine what level they play.

“This year, they’re determined to play at the highest level, which really,” he added with a laugh, “ticks me off.”

In other towns, the guys who aren’t superstars go unrecognized by their next-door neighbor.

At the Forum, even the 10th, 11th and 12th men are becoming as familiar to the crowd as the celebrities sitting courtside. Do you suppose the subs are having fun?

“You’re telling me,” said Frank Brickowski, one of the three Lakers who didn’t score in double figures. Brickowski finished with 4 points; Wes Matthews had 5 and Mike Smrek 3.

“Everybody’s asking for the fourth quarter,” Brickowski said. “And they (the starters) are pulling for us. They get excited when we make a good play.”

Johnson had a suggestion for what to do with the three guys who didn’t score at least 10 points: “Don’t suit ‘em up tomorrow,” he said with a smile.

Byron Scott led the Lakers with 23 points. A.C. Green had 11, Michael Cooper 17, Kurt Rambis 13, Adrian Branch 11 and Billy Thompson 10.

Denver tried running with the Lakers, which worked for about eight minutes. Then the Lakers kicked into overdrive, shooting 62% in the second quarter and 59.6% for the game.

Do they shoot this well against the reserves in practice?

“We shoot well against ‘em,” Magic Johnson said, “but they know the plays and they play ‘em.”

Laker Coach Pat Riley said he told Johnson before the game that he wasn’t going to call any plays, that the floor belonged to Johnson. He almost kept his word.

“It was an up-and-down game, and that’s how we like it,” Johnson said. “We ran our ‘break’ offense, and whoever had the shot took it.”

Alex English led Denver with 17 points, 12 below his average. But he watched much of this one, too.

“We’ve got to continue taking the attitude that we are a snowball headed uphill,” Riley said. “We’ve got to continue to work against every club, make every game a challenge.”

Snowball uphill? Try telling that to the teams buried beneath the Laker avalanche.

Laker Notes Laker forward Frank Brickowski was fined $2500, and guard Wes Matthews was fined $750 by the league for their part in last Friday night’s fight with the Phoenix Suns. Phoenix rookie Grant Gondrezick was fined $1,000, and assistant coach Al Bianchi was fined $1500 and suspended for one game. Brickowski drew the stiffest penalty for being the instigator after throwing an elbow at Gondrezick. The Sun player was fined for fighting, while Bianchi--who had pushed Matthews from the scene--was fined for throwing punches and issuing “inflammatory remarks.” Matthews was charged with “helping to escalate the altercation and for inflammatory remarks.” Brickowski said he plans to appeal. “I have to, or I won’t eat for two months,” he said. “It’s an unbelievably large amount of money. I was real surprised. When all was said and done, no one was hurt. I threw some punches, he (Gondrezick) threw some punches, but no one was hurt.” . . . Matthews said he wouldn’t appeal. “I don’t think I have any grounds,” he said. “I think I got fined because I was running my mouth, although I was kind of provoked. (But) I feel good about what happened. I wasn’t wrong. But they took $750 of my son’s money.” . . . Laker players have recently been pooling money to buy lottery tickets. Matthews said: “I gotta hope I win a big lotto ticket now. Frank better hope he wins a bigger one.” . . . The last time the Nuggets were here, their big men, Danny Schayes and Wayne Cooper, were both injured, and Bill Hanzlik, a 6-7 swingman, was playing center. The Nuggets lost that one, 138-116, and haven’t done much winning since: They’ve lost 15 of 19 since Thanksgiving. Schayes and Cooper both started Wednesday. . . . The Lakers and a health-oriented drink company are sponsoring a slam-dunk contest on Sunday at 10 a.m. The first 500 people who show up at the Forum parking lot will be eligible to compete, with the finals to be held at halftime of Sunday’s game with San Antonio. Winners will receive a free trip to the All-Star game in Seattle.