NBA ALL-STAR GAME : Today’s Game : Erving’s Finale Makes It Special

Laker Coach Pat Riley couldn’t wait to greet Tom Chambers, the Seattle SuperSonic forward he had picked to start in place of the injured Ralph Sampson in today’s All-Star game.

“Congratulations, Tom,” Riley said. “You’re guarding Larry Bird.”

So maybe it isn’t a perfect world, but Chambers still anticipates a better time than he had Saturday, when he really felt out of place in the slam-dunk competition.

“People were expecting this white boy to dunk,” said Chambers, the only contestant whose bloodlines made him susceptible to what is jokingly referred to as white man’s disease, or inefficiency as a jumper.

“I’ve been getting telephone calls all week. I’m much more nervous for the slam-dunk competition than the game. In the game, all I have to do is run and run and run.”

If Chambers isn’t running after Bird, he’ll be running after the passes of Magic Johnson, one of three Lakers who will be his teammates on the Western Conference All-Stars. The others are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, making a record 16th appearance, and James Worthy, who will be in the starting lineup for the second straight season along with Johnson.

By midday Saturday, Magic had virtually lost his voice--he picked up a cold Thursday night in Portland--but none of his excitement for today’s game, a high-tech exercise in playground basketball.

“I’m not feeling too good right now,” he said, “but that won’t affect showtime tomorrow.”

It’ll be another curtain call for Philadelphia’s Julius Erving, too, who will be making his 12th and final start for the Eastern Conference All-Stars. Erving, who has said he will retire after the season, brought an entourage for the game, including his wife and four children, his mother, mother-in-law, his manager, his tax attorney and “a couple of neighbors.”

Because of Erving, Johnson said, “there’s no question this game will be special, not only for myself but for the fans.

“He was really one of the first ones to change the standard of the league, to cause it to take an upward swing. Then me and Larry took it from there.”

The East leads the series, 24-12, and has won three of the four previous games coached by Riley, including last season, when Detroit’s Isiah Thomas scored 30 points in a 139-132 win that earned him his second award as the most valuable player in the All-Star game.

The starters, as selected by fan voting (with the exception of Chambers), are:

Western Conference: Johnson and Worthy, Lakers; Chambers, Seattle; Akeem Olajuwon, Houston; Alvin Robertson, San Antonio.

Eastern Conference: Bird, Boston; Moses Malone, Washington; Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta; Michael Jordan, Chicago; Erving, Philadelphia. Boston’s K.C. Jones is the coach.

Robertson, who is 6-4, wasn’t thrilled at his defensive assignment. He’s drawing Jordan.

Malone said he jammed three fingers on his left hand last week and is having trouble gripping the ball, but will play.

Bird, whose rivalry with Erving even transcended the one he has with Magic, said that if it’s up to him, Erving will find the ball in his hands.

“It’s his kind of game,” Bird said. “If it comes down to the end and it’s close, I’m sure we’ll get the ball to him.”

THE ROSTERS EASTERN CONFERENCE

00 Robert Parish C Boston 4 *Moses Malone C Washington 6 *Julius Erving G Philadelphia 10 Maurice Cheeks G Philadelphia 11 Isiah Thomas G Detroit 21 *Dominique Wilkins F Atlanta 22 *Michael Jordan G Chicago 24 Jeff Malone G Washington 32 Kevin McHale F Boston 33 *Larry Bird F Boston 34 Charles Barkley F Philadelphia 40 Bill Laimbeer C Detroit

Head Coach--K.C. Jones, Boston. WESTERN CONFERENCE

2 Alex English F Denver 4 Joe Barry Carroll C Golden State 6 Walter Davis G Phoenix 20 Eric Floyd G Golden State 21 *Alvin Robertson G San Antonio 22 Rolando Blackman G Dallas 23 *Tom Chambers F Seattle 24 Mark Aguirre F Dallas 33 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar C Lakers 32 *Magic Johnson G Lakers 34 *Akeem Olajuwon C Houston 42 *James Worthy F Lakers

Head Coach--Pat Riley, Lakers. * Starter.