Lakers, True to Form, Follow Celtic Win With Loss to Bullets

The trend-spotters, those people who now say I-told-you-so about Vanna White, the Beastie Boys and tofu, would have loved the Lakers’ game at the Forum Tuesday night.

And, of course, they would tell you that they knew all along that the Lakers would fall.

And they did, 114-99, to the Washington Bullets, before a sellout crowd of 17,505 that sprinted for the exits as if intent on catching the last hour of “Amerika.”

Didn’t the Lakers beat the Celtics at Boston in December, then lose the next night at Detroit? Didn’t the Celtics, 106-103 losers in a playoff-like atmosphere here on Sunday, get their heads handed to them the next night in Utah?

So what happens Tuesday night?

The Lakers, who at one time led by a dozen, 65-53, succumbed to a 13-0 burst by the Bullets that broke an 88-88 tie a minute and a half into the fourth quarter.

Didn’t it stand to reason?

Not by Pat Riley’s reckoning, it didn’t.

“(One game), boy, what a difference,” the Laker coach said. “They totally outplayed us, period.

“I thought we could build on the Boston game, and we probably should have, but we didn’t come in the proper frame of mind to battle.”

The Lakers could have been armed to the teeth, and it might not have made a difference to Bullet center Moses Malone, who scored 27 points and hauled down 19 rebounds, an astonishing 12 in the final period.

Washington Coach Kevin Loughery said Malone would have been better off getting rested during the All-Star break, instead of playing for the East in Seattle.

“I don’t need no day off,” said Malone, who took a quarter off because of the flu the night before in Phoenix and still scored 36 points. “I’m getting old (he’ll be 32 on March 23). I’ve got to stay in shape.”

First, the Bullets applied their knockout punch as they held the Lakers scoreless for 4:28 while Malone and a platoon of Washington reserves (Darwin Cook, ex-Crenshaw star John Williams, Jay Vincent and Michael Adams) laid waste to the Laker defense.

Then, Bullet guard Ennis Whatley delivered the knockout elbow.

With 1:09 left to play, Whatley caught Laker guard Michael Cooper flush in the jaw with an elbow, knocking Cooper cold momentarily. The contact apparently was unintentional.

After sitting on the floor for a couple of minutes, Cooper returned to the Laker dressing room without assistance. But when the Lakers fly to Denver this morning for their game tonight with the Nuggets, Cooper will not be with the team. He’ll be checked by a doctor and, if given the OK, will join the team later in the day, according to a club spokesman.

“He got me with a real good shot,” said Cooper, who wasn’t even sure whose elbow creased his chin.

“I haven’t been hit like that since Darryl Dawkins in 1980 (when he was leveled by the then-Philadelphia center in the NBA finals).”

Mychal Thompson, who was such a hit in his Laker debut Sunday, figured to come down from that high at some time, but it happened even sooner than he expected.

Tuesday, he made just 2 of his 9 shots for 4 points in 16 minutes.

“We were like a rock band trying to play a symphony--we couldn’t get in tune,” Thompson said.

“You can’t live in the past, or you’ll always be a step behind. My mind was totally on the Washington Bullets. What happened against the Celtics was a fine memory, but it’s not going to carry me or the team the rest of the season.”

For a while, it appeared that the scoring of Byron Scott and the rebounding of Kurt Rambis would carry the Lakers Tuesday night. Scott had 17 first-half points and Rambis had 9 rebounds in the first half, 13 in the game.

During the first half, neither All-Star Malone--Moses or Jeff (they’re not related)--was a factor early. Moses had seven points and five rebounds, and Jeff had made just three of nine shots for another seven points.

“But I don’t think we were playing well the whole game,” Riley said. “We were playing about as segmented as we can get.”

After A.C. Green hit a 17-footer from the top of the key to put the Lakers ahead, 77-67, with 4:57 to go in the third quarter, the Lakers went nearly four minutes without a basket.

The Bullets finally caught the Lakers, 80-80, on two free throws by Darwin Cook with 1:24 to go in the quarter, which ended at 84-all.

It wasn’t long before it was 88-88, at which point the Bullets started their 13-0 run as Cook hit an 18-foot rainbow from the corner. Then Mychal Thompson was called for a loose-ball foul, and John Williams made two free throws.

Scott, who shot just 1 for 6 in the second half, missed his next two jumpers, Moses grabbed the rebound both times, and hit a turn-around jumper after the second time.

Bullets 94, Lakers 88, and Riley called time out.

It didn’t help. Vincent blocked a shot by Thompson--and Moses Malone, who turned his ankle after stepping on Magic Johnson’s foot, made one of two free throws.

Scott misfired on a three-pointer, Moses had another rebound, then another on the offensive end, which he converted into another basket.

John Williams knocked the ball from Magic and sent Vincent away for a breakaway. Bullets 99, Lakers 88, and another Riley time out.

Abdul-Jabbar missed two straight sky hooks, Malone rebounded again, and Vincent tapped in a Moses miss. Two free throws by Magic Johnson finally broke the Bullet burst, but by then it was too late.

Johnson scored 20 points, one less than James Worthy, who led the Lakers with 21. Johnson had 39 against the Celtics on Sunday and 40 against Indiana the game before.

“The other guys have got to start coming through,” Riley said. “They can’t expect Magic to score 35 or 40 every night. The guys have got to carry the load themselves.”

That load was light Tuesday night for Moses Malone, who outscored Abdul-Jabbar, 27-17, and outrebounded him, 19-6.

“They probably weren’t as into it as the Boston game,” said Malone, who soaked his left ankle in a wastebasket full of ice after the game.

“They probably figured, ‘Washington’s coming in, no problem.’ But we’ve got some superstars on this team, too. And not just me and Jeff.”

Laker Notes This was Washington’s first win here in 11 years. The Bullets last won, 105-101, on Jan. 25, 1976. . . .The Lakers are 6-4 in their last 10 games. “We’ve played about four good games, and it has to be a concern,” James Worthy said. “We’re aware of it, the coaches are aware it. You just can’t play good and then bad, good and then bad.”. . . . The Lakers start a four-game trip tonight in Denver, followed by games in Chicago, Philadelphia and Phoenix. . . .The further adventures of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, continued: Tuesday night, the Laker center was a guest VJ on MTV. Recently, he signed jazz great Dizzy Gillespie--who is celebrating his 50th anniversary in the business--to a recording contract with his new label, Cranberry Records. And on Monday, March 2, Abdul-Jabbar will receive the Distinguished Achievement Award from the UCLA Black Alumni Assn., at a dinner to be held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.