In Rough ‘n Tumble Bullets Game, Lakers Don’t Forget to Play Defense

Beneath a Laker fashion plate beats a sentimental heart.

But while Pat Riley revealed himself to be an old softie here Sunday afternoon, giving bench-warmer Adrian Branch the chance to strut his stuff a few minutes away from the playgrounds on which he grew up, the rest of the Lakers were ruthless people in a 115-101 win over the Washington Bullets in the Capital Centre.

Byron Scott was poked in the eye, James Worthy had his nose bloodied, Kurt Rambis had his glasses imprinted against his face, and Frank Brickowski managed to draw six fouls and a technical in 10 thrill-a-minutes, but the Lakers matched the Bullets and hit-man Moses Malone bruise for bloody bruise.

Then, while Magic Johnson scored 11 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, which began with the Lakers clinging to a two-point lead, the Laker defense applied a defensive stranglehold, holding the Bullets without a basket in the final 3:45 of play.

Washington Coach Kevin Loughery, meanwhile, once again revealed that beneath his seldom-placid exterior, temporary insanity is never too far away. Loughery got himself ejected with 5:27 left for his ongoing, two-minute-long protest of a controversial call by referee Earl Strom.

The Lakers were leading, 94-89, when the Thin Man--no, not William Powell, 7-foot-6 Manute Bol--blocked a shot by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of five blocks by the no-rinka-Dinka.

By the time the ball was retrieved, the 24-second clock had gone off, and Strom signaled a violation. Bullets’ ball, and a chance to cut the Laker lead to three.

But wait. Strom wasn’t certain of his call, thinking the ball might have deflected off the backboard, in which case the Lakers would retain possession. After conferring with the timekeeper, Strom reversed his call.

“In the back of my mind, I thought about the possibility of the ball deflecting,” Strom told a pool reporter. “So, I walked over to ask the 24-second clock operator and I heard someone tell him to say no. Then I was sure (it had deflected).”

TV replays appeared to show that Strom was mistaken. Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 15 points in 30 foul-plagued minutes, said he thought it had struck the backboard.

“I got fouled, that’s for sure,” he said.

For sure, Loughery went bonkers, even more so when Magic did a barrel roll past Bol for a driving layup, followed by a jumper by James Worthy for two of his 20 points.

The Laker lead was nine, and was to become 10 when Washington called time out and Loughery was hit with his first technical.

Rookie John Williams, the former L.A. Crenshaw High star, scored the next four points to cut it to six, but the Lakers ran off a half-dozen points, Washington called another time out, and Loughery’s time ran out when Strom’s patience did. The Bullet coach mimicked the referee’s ejection signal, then flung his clipboard on the court before disappearing beneath the stands.

“When you’re playing a great team like the Lakers you can’t be giving the ball back,” said Loughery, who didn’t emerge from his office until almost 20 minutes after the game had ended.

“I thought it was a really crucial call, it really kind of changed the game.” His outburst was nothing, said Loughery, a New Yorker who would fit right in with an L.A. crowd--he often leaves early. “On a scale of 1 to 10, that would have been a 2 in the old days,” Loughery said.

“I think Pat Riley made a great call.”

Loughery obviously believed that Riley had influenced Strom’s decision. There was no question that another Riley call--the decision to summon Branch from the far end of the Laker bench--influenced the outcome of the game.

Branch, who grew up in nearby Largo and went to college at the University of Maryland, where he roomed with Len Bias the year before the Terrapin star died of a cocaine overdose, had not played a minute in three of the last four Laker games.

But that mattered little to Riley. “I told him he was going to get his time,” Riley said.

“He’s been playing really well. He’s worked hard and his attitude has been unbelievable.

“He doesn’t realize how close he is to starting. If something were to happen to Byron and he had to miss a couple of games, I’d move Adrian right in. He has no fear.”

Branch, who played in the minor-league Continental Basketball Assn. after being cut by the Chicago Bulls last season, said he didn’t expect to play much, even though he copped every available ticket for his mom, dad, cousins and buddies from the playground.

“I usually just play in blowouts,” he said.

Sunday, when Branch entered the game in place of Magic Johnson, the score was tied, 37-37, the Lakers having just recovered from a first-period mugging by Moses, who had scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in helping Washington to a 31-23 lead.

The first thing Branch did was to slap the ball away from Darwin Cook for a steal, drive down court and draw a foul from Williams. Shortly thereafter, Scott stole the ball and sent a long pass to Branch, who went in for a left-handed reverse slam.

The 6-8, 185-pound guard also blocked a shot by Bullet guard Ennis Whatley and hit an 18-foot jumper off a pass from Magic.

By the end of the half, the Laker lead was 10, 60-50. In nine minutes, Branch had scored six points, grabbed a rebound, blocked a shot and made his steal.

“Unharnessed energy, I guess,” he said. “I was excited out there. I always had dreamed of playing in a big game here.”

Branch’s only mistake was to take a pass from Magic, then take a step backward for a three-point try, right in front of the Laker bench--and Riley.

“Magic said to me, ‘Man, you’re on the floor, why are you stepping back? You should be stepping in,’ ” Branch said sheepishly, though he could not suppress a grin. “That’s a good point.”

The Lakers made their biggest points with defense. Washington shot just 27.3% in the second quarter, making just 6 of 22 attempts. They were worse in the final quarter, making just 5 of 22 (22.7%) and finished at 38.3% overall.

“Their quickness and their overall defense were their biggest factors,” Loughery said. “They get so many loose balls, and I thought (Michael) Cooper did a great job. When you miss that many shots, they ram it down your throat.

“They are by far one of the most underrated defensive teams in the league.”

Laker Notes

The Lakers, now 29-8, play again this afternoon against the New Jersey Nets, losers of five in a row, in East Rutherford, N.J. . . . Jeff Malone led the Bullets in scoring with 27 points, but the other Bullet guards had off-shooting nights. Ennis Whatley was 3 for 12, John Williams 3 for 10 and Darwin Cook 1 for 9. Moses Malone had 21 points and 10 rebounds, but only 10 points and 1 rebound after the first quarter. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had four fouls a minute into the third quarter, Frank Brickowski fouled out, and Kurt Rambis had three fouls, but the wave of Laker bodies succeeded in wearing down Moses. “That’s the only way the man can be played,” Brickowski said, “because he’s so ruthless. He’s the best in the business at that type of game.” . . . Michael Cooper scored 14 points, 10 in the first half, but preferred to talk about the Laker defense. “I’m proud of the way we played,” Cooper said. “The way we combated their physicalness by bumping and grinding with their big man (Malone). Sometimes our defense is overshadowed by our fast-break, the no-look passes by Magic, the jams by Worthy, the sky-hooks by Kareem and the three-point shots by Cooper, but our defense wins us games.” . . . The Lakers outrebounded the Bullets, 52-48, 21-9 in the fourth quarter, when forward A.C. Green grabbed seven of his team-high total of 10.