Lakers Overrun Warriors With 49-Point 3rd Period : Worthy, Magic Help L.A. Take 1-0 Series Lead

By now, the Lakers are used to seeing their fans stand at the end of the third quarter. Time to head for the exits, or get a better view of the Laker girls.

But this time was different. Tuesday night, the sellout crowd of 17,505 rose as one, but there was no exodus for the parking lots. And no one seemed to care that the Laker girls were frozen in place, unable to hear their music over the din that didn’t stop until the horn sounded for the fourth quarter.

This crowd didn’t need Chick Hearn to tell them they’d just witnessed something special--a playoff record-setting 49-point third quarter that transformed the Lakers from would-be upset victims into easy 125-116 victors over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

“I couldn’t believe the fans,” Magic Johnson said. “Only when we play Boston do they react like that.”

Maybe this time, the fans--as accustomed to spectacle as they are--couldn’t believe the Lakers.

“That’s probably as much as I’ve enjoyed watching a team that was kicking my butt,” said Golden State Coach George Karl, whose team held a 62-55 halftime lead that became ancient history in the span of a dozen minutes.

“It was beautiful basketball, and then (Michael) Cooper made those ‘threes’. I really don’t think we lost our composure . . . They just ran right by us.”

The Lakers, who had had six days off between playoff dates, didn’t take off the first half Tuesday but did find themselves in the rare position of trailer after Golden State center Joe Barry Carroll made eight straight baskets and scored 20 first-half points.

The Warriors, who had come from an 0-2 deficit to win three straight games from Utah in the first round, thought they were courting another upset.

Instead, they discovered too late they had courted disaster, which started innocently enough when James Worthy tossed in a little eight-foot turnaround from the lane.

Before the quarter was over, Worthy would have 18 points en route to a game-high 28. The Lakers would make 17 of 21 shots, a Warrior-wilting 80.9%, and Cooper would throw in three back-breaking three-pointers at the end of the period, which closed with the Lakers ahead, 104-85.

And what about Johnson? All he did in those dozen minutes was score 13 points, grab 7 rebounds and pass out 7 assists. He finished with his first playoff triple-double of the spring: 25 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds.

“I think,” Karl said, “we saw a great team play greater.”

The Lakers, who were behind by as many as nine in the first half, took their first lead of the second half when Magic Johnson stole the ball from Warrior guard Sleepy Floyd and spotted Worthy in the open court.

Worthy never finished this trip to the basket, but Purvis Short was called for a breakaway foul. Worthy made both free throws, putting the Lakers ahead, 68-66, at the eight-minute mark.

Then Abdul-Jabbar, who helped to limit Carroll to two points in the second half, missed an alley-oop, but followed his own shot with a lay-in and was fouled. His free throw made it 71-66, and Karl called time out with 7:48 to go.

The Warriors pulled to within a basket, 75-73, after a three-pointer by Floyd and a Floyd baseline drive, but Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson worked a beautiful give-and-go, with Johnson scoring and drawing a foul.

It was 78-75 when Cooper replaced Byron Scott with 5:40 left in the period. The first thing he did was pressure Floyd into coughing up the ball, with Johnson scooping it up and going coast-to-coast for a basket.

Carroll scored his last basket of the game to make it 80-77, but Worthy tipped in a miss by Abdul-Jabbar and then scored twice on the fast break and the Laker lead was 10, 87-77.

A few moments later, Cooper heated up from long range, and the Warriors were done. Cooper’s last three-pointer, a 25-footer from the top of the key, came with four seconds left in the quarter and triggered the ovation.

“He was on fire tonight,” Golden State guard Terry Teagle said of Cooper. “It seemed like every time he set up we had a guy flying in his face. It didn’t seem to matter, though, because he hit the shots, anyway.”

What could the Warriors have done to stop the Lakers?

“It’s hard for any team to stop us when we’re playing like that,” Johnson said.

Karl wasn’t about to disagree.

“They must have gotten all the loose balls and long rebounds in the second half,” Karl said. “And when they get them, they usually get points at the other end.

“You feel a little helpless when you come out for the second half thinking you can win and then find yourself down by 19 points.”

Scott, who suffered through a 2-for-8 first half but finished with 17 points said the Lakers “pretty much” played a perfect quarter.

“That’s one of the best quarters I’ve ever seen us play,” he said. “We just put a lot of pressure on them, and got easy baskets on the other end.”

Said Worthy: “We just played Laker basketball at its best.”

It’s not what the Warriors needed to see.

Laker Notes

The Lakers’ 49 points was a playoff record for points in a third quarter. The playoff record for any quarter is 51, set by the Lakers against Detroit on March 31, 1962. . . . The Lakers outrebounded Golden State, 48-33, with Magic Johnson the game’s leading rebounder with 12. A.C. Green had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Larry Smith had 11 rebounds for Golden State. . . . Golden State was called for an illegal defense four times, with the Lakers getting three points on technicals. . . . Michael Cooper made 7 of 9 shots for 17 points and had 7 assists. . . . ...Before the start of this season’s playoffs, four Lakers--Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper, Magic Johnson and Kurt Rambis--had appeared in more playoff games than the entire Golden State roster. Golden State players had 63 games of playoff experience, the Lakers 632.