It’s Another Day, and Magic Leads the Way, 126-115

On one side of the Lincoln Tunnel, Larry Bird was holding court. On the other side, Magic Johnson.

Two games on the same Monday afternoon, played at the same time. What’s a basketball junkie to do?

“What a hard choice,” Magic Johnson said with a laugh, when asked what he would do.

But Johnson was at a loss only temporarily.

“I’d go where I got the best seats,” he said with a giggle.

While Bird and the Celtics were losing to the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, Johnson didn’t disappoint the 14,197 ticket-holders who witnessed the Lakers’ 126-115 win over the New Jersey Nets in the Brendan Byrne Arena.

Johnson, who startled Laker Coach Pat Riley by saying he was unhappy with the way he had played the day before in a win against the Washington Bullets, set an arena record with 42 points, 22 in a frenzied third period, when the teams had a total of 80 points.

Johnson made all 16 of his free throws, grabbed 11 rebounds and had 7 assists.

In the fourth quarter, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 10 of his 20 points and did a little startling of his own with a windmill breakaway jam that put the Nets away with 70 seconds to play.

“I scared Adrian (Branch),” a buoyant Abdul-Jabbar said afterward. “He said he’d never seen me jump that high before.”

There appeared to be little spring in many of the Lakers on Monday, less than 24 hours and one flight after beating the Bullets in Landover, Md. This was not an easy game, even if it was against the Nets, the last-place team in the Atlantic Division and losers of six straight, four in a row at home.

“We’re really out of time and out of place,” said Abdul-Jabbar, referring to the rarity of back-to-back afternoon games. Monday’s game was played in the afternoon because it was the Martin Luther King birthday holiday.

“All of us were tired,” Riley said. “The brain cells were not working. You’ve got to fight yourselves to break through that.”

Even Johnson appeared out of sync, at least in the first half, when he made just 5 of 16 shots, a couple of which were blocked, and committed 5 turnovers.

“It wasn’t (a good half), but I was doing the things I wanted to do,” Johnson said. “I was taking it inside, getting hit, and that was good. I had a couple of shots blocked, and a few that rimmed in and out, but I thought I was playing my game.

“It wasn’t good as far as shots-wise, but it was good in what I wanted to create.”

The Nets tried to stop Johnson with a big forward, 6-foot 9-inch Orlando Woolridge.

“Every night, it’s something different,” Johnson said. “They put a smaller man on me in Washington, (Ennis) Whatley, then tried (6-8 John) Williams. Here, they tried mostly big forwards.

“My shot was a little flat in the first half, and I was taking off too far from the basket. That’s why it was getting blocked. So I just uplifted it, and read the defense a little better.”

For two quarters, the second and third, the Nets shredded the Laker defense by shooting 75% (27 of 36), most of their points coming inside.

Forward Buck Williams, the subject of trade rumors, had a strong game, scoring 30 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Woolridge had 20 points, and Mike Gminski 19.

But in the final period, which began with the score tied, 96-96, the Nets were done in by 10 turnovers. Woolridge kicked the ball out of bounds, and Abdul-Jabbar threw in a nine-foot sky hook over Gminski, giving the Lakers a 98-96 lead, one they never gave back.

Gminski lost the ball to Michael Cooper, who fed Byron Scott on the break for 2 of his 23 points.

Williams lost the ball out of bounds, and Kurt Rambis sank a 19-foot jumper from left of the circle. Magic rebounded a Williams miss, came down court and fed Abdul-Jabbar, who deftly directed the ball across the lane to Rambis for an easy lay-in off one of Abdul-Jabbar’s seven assists.

Thus, four Net turnovers and just one basket in the first five minutes translated into a nine-point Laker lead.

New Jersey pulled to within 112-108 on Kevin McKenna’s three-pointer with 4:19 to go, but Abdul-Jabbar answered with a sky hook, the Nets committed two straight turnovers and Magic hit four free throws in a row.

“Magic took control in the last six minutes,” Williams said. “He couldn’t be stopped.”

The Lakers are 30-8 overall, 15-0 against teams with losing records.

“You’re going to get beat in this league, but that record speaks for itself,” Riley said. “Great teams find a way to grind it out and win.”

And on those dead days, when things threaten to grind to a halt, it always helps to have a little Magic.

“That’s what makes me a great coach, doesn’t it?” Riley said with a little smile.

Laker Notes The Clippers, to be sure, have had their injury troubles (Norm Nixon and Marques Johnson), but the Nets also have a legitimate claim on the sympathy market. They’re missing center Darryl Dawkins, who first hurt his back, then fractured his wrist in a car accident. He hasn’t played since mid-November. Guard Otis Birdsong has a sore right knee and an apparent nerve problem in his left leg and has been out since early December. Monday, center-forward James Bailey lasted all of 19 seconds, long enough to strike his left hand against somebody’s head and break a couple of bones in his hand. He is expected to be out six to eight weeks. And rookie guard Pearl Washington, the team’s No. 1 draft choice, sprained his right ankle with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter and did not come back. He’s expected to resume playing shortly. . . . Kareem Abdul-Jabbar taped a spot as a guest VJ on MTV. Abdul-Jabbar, who also formed his own jazz record company, Cranberry Records, recently signed his first artist, pianist Kenny Kirkland, who performs with popular jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. . . . Michael Cooper was wearing Adrian Branch’s warm-up jacket after the game Monday. Said Branch: “He’s trying to develop his left hand, so he’s wearing a left-handed jacket.” . . . Wes Matthews, who had been getting significant time backing up Laker guards Byron Scott and Magic Johnson, did not play for the third straight game and played just three minutes before that. . . . The Lakers play the Hawks in Atlanta Wednesday night.