Lakers Hit Snag, Not Much Else

It would be unfair to say that the Lakers couldn’t have hit the ocean with a beach ball Thursday night.

They were too far inland. Make it the Great Salt Lake, however, and you’ll get an idea of what went down--actually, what didn’t go down--in Utah’s 107-101 win, which ended Los Angeles’ eight-game winning streak.

The best-shooting team in the NBA disappeared off the radar screen against the Jazz, who avenged an eight-point loss at the Forum four nights earlier by prodding the Lakers into shooting a season-low 38.7%, their worst night of marksmanship since a loss to Boston a year ago last January.

It was a night for cold Lakers--Magic Johnson missed 18 of 28 shots, and Michael Cooper made just 3 of 18--and hot Jazz, most notably Thurl Bailey, who came off the bench to score a career-high 29 points; Bob Hansen, who matched his career high with 26 points, and guard John Stockton, who set a franchise record with 22 assists.

And there was another special delivery from Karl (the Mailman) Malone, who had scored a career-best 35 points against the Lakers at the Forum and followed that up with a career-best 17 rebounds Thursday night, 15 on the defensive boards.

Yet, despite all those career games by the Jazz and the miserable shooting by the Lakers, L.A. still was within four points, 103-99, with 1:26 to go, after trailing by as many as 14, 95-81, with 7:25 left.

But Bailey, a 6-11 forward who shoots like a guard, buried a 20-footer over the outstretched hand of a leaping Cooper with a minute to go, the Lakers misfired on their next three possessions, and Bailey sealed it with a jump hook in the lane with 15 seconds to go.

Byron Scott’s jumper with seven ticks left saved the Lakers from being kept under 100 points for only the second time this season.

“It was a walkathon for us,” said Laker Coach Pat Riley, alluding to his team’s inability to run against the Jazz. Normally, the Lakers average more than 50 fast-breaks. Against the Jazz, they had 35.

“We just didn’t push the ball at all,” Riley said. “So we walked up and ran a set offense, but against the best defense in the Western Conference.”

It’s hard to run, of course, when guys like Malone and 7-4 center Mark Eaton (11 rebounds, 10 defensively) are crashing the boards.

“They were dedicated to stopping our break,” Cooper said. “After a basket, they were jumping on the man, and after a miss, they did a good job of smothering the rebounder, especially that little guy--what’s his name, Stockton--he did a good job of stifling the pass.”

That little guy was making only his second start of the season, and only because Utah’s regular point guard, Rickey Green, came down with the flu. Stockton played 43 minutes, regularly found Malone and Bailey for medium-range jumpers and made only two turnovers.

“He was the key to the whole game,” Riley said, “the way he was steadying them, and pushing the ball up.

“His judgment is extraordinary. He doesn’t force drives, he doesn’t force passes. He stops on a dime when the drive isn’t there and takes it back out. He had tremendous poise.”

The Lakers had won their previous four games by an average margin of just under 30 points. But that’s before they encountered the incredible shrinking basket before a delighted sellout crowd of 12,212 at the Salt Palace.

Last Sunday, Cooper had missed all seven of his shots in the first half against Utah, only to come out firing with 15 points after the break. Thursday night, he was 1 for 9 at halftime.

“I had the same feeling as the other night,” Cooper said. “I was missing a lot of wide-open shots. They just weren’t falling. In the second half, I think fatigue might have taken over.”

The Lakers, who had beaten Denver at home the night before, are in a stretch of four games in five nights. The last time the Lakers lost to the Jazz, on Jan. 26, 1985, it was also on the second night of consecutive games. They had beaten Utah eight straight times since then.

Stockton, who is only 6-1 and 175, was clearly drained from the effort, which was an NBA high for assists this season. He had his right foot in a bucket of ice and his left knee wrapped in ice.

“I’m a mix right now,” he said. “I’m very tired, but right now I feel like I could go dancing out of this building.”

Not with the Lakers, he wouldn’t. “We were a step behind all night,” said Johnson, who led L.A. with 25 points. James Worthy had 22.