Already, Worthy Has the Nuggets on the Run

The Denver Nuggets couldn’t stop forward James Worthy of the Lakers.

Worthy scored 28 points in 29 minutes as the Lakers crushed the Nuggets, 128-95, Thursday night in the opening game of their National Basketball Assn. playoff series at the Forum.

“He had a super game,” Laker guard Magic Johnson said of Worthy. “We went to him a lot because he was hot. But it wasn’t just James, everyone contributed.”

Worthy had 15 points in the first period as the Lakers took a 39-32 lead.

“That’s the way we expect James to play,” Laker guard Michael Cooper said. “James played a great game because he had a couple days off to rest.”

Worthy, who made his first eight shots, wound up with 21 points in the first half as the Lakers built an 82-53 edge at intermission.

Worthy made 9 of 10 shots and 3 of 4 free throws in the first half. He added 7 points in the third period and left the game with 6 minutes 3 seconds remaining in the period. He didn’t return for the fourth period.

Worthy finished the game hitting 12 of 14 shots and 4 of 5 free throws. He also had 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots. “I can’t say that this was my best game,” Worthy said. “After 83 games, it’s kind of hard to judge it.

“The key was that I took the ball to the basket a lot stronger. I was just trying to do what I normally do.

“The only other time I can remember when I shot like this was up in Sacramento when I hit 14 of 15 shots.”

Said Laker Coach Pat Riley: “James had two days to rest his knee, and I think that made a tremendous amount of difference. Both he and Byron (Scott) are the keys to the playoffs for us. We have to get a consistent effort offensively and defensively from them.”

Said Denver Coach Doug Moe: “The Lakers are awesome. Tonight was a (bleeping) joke.”

Four Denver players tried to guard Worthy, but none had much success.

Wayne Cooper drew the assignment in the first period, and he was followed by Bill Hanzlik, Danny Schayes and Mark Alarie.

Said Schayes: “Worthy is always a tough matchup for us. It’s not like he killed us all by himself.”

Said Wayne Cooper: “He (Worthy) played extremely well. He got out on the break. His game is running, and they ran well.”

Said Hanzlik: “He (Worthy) ran awfully well. We’ve got to get back on defense to stop him.”

Said Alarie: “He (Worthy) has played well against us all year. But I wasn’t in there guarding him long enough to tell you what he did to us.”

The Lakers started off slowly, but they quickly put the Nuggets away.

“We knew it was going to be a track meet,” Worthy said. “We tightened up our defense and got our transition game going.

“I don’t think we did anything differently, but our intensity was a lot better.”