Lakers Shine in 111-97 Win Against Suns

The Lakers were going to practice this until they got it right. Presented with another fat pigeon suitable for roasting, they reset their alarm clocks as well as their microwaves. Their wakeup call came before the opening tip and there went what little chance there was of suspense.

Instead of falling behind by the usual 15 points, the Lakers trailed twice, at 13-12 and 15-14, and led for 47:26 of the 48 minutes as they beat the new-look Phoenix Suns, 111-97, Sunday night in a yawner deluxe.

In a historical footnote, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was held to four points, his lowest since going scoreless (he was thrown out after two minutes) in the opener of the 1977-78 season. Sunday he played 23 minutes, tried five shots and made two.

The Laker winning streak is now 10, despite having trailed stalwarts like the Spurs, Clippers, Bullets and Jazz by double figures before Pat Riley decided it was enough.

Did Riley need another, uh, underdog to see if his charges had gotten the point?

If he did, he’d invited the right guest.

The Suns were 17-36, 5-21 on the road and had just greeted the trading deadline with three, count ‘em, three different transactions, parting with Larry Nance and two other one-time starters for five players, none of whom was starting for his team.

Not only that, two of the new Suns, guards Kevin Johnson and Craig Hodges, were injured and absent.

“This season has been challenging in many ways, as you can imagine,” said Coach John Wetzel. “But we felt we had to do something. We were 17-35. We were sort of stagnant.”

Some of them sort of hated some of the others, too, an outgrowth of last summer’s drug scandal in which Walter Davis gave evidence against his teammates, including then-starting point guard, Jay Humphries.

“For us to think it would all work out would be too much to hope for,” General Manager Jerry Colangelo told the Arizona Republic. “They had to go.”

So they went, Nance and Mike Sanders to Cleveland, Humphries to Milwaukee, James Edwards to Detroit. That night, the Cavaliers played in Phoenix.

“We went eight on eight,” Wetzel said.

What was that like?

“You didn’t have to worry about who to put in,” Wetzel said.

His worries didn’t last long Sunday, either. The Subs were competitive through the early going but Byron Scott and A.C. Green had eight points apiece in the first period and the Lakers took a 29-23 lead. They were struggling along with a 45-41 lead when Riley called a timeout with 3:44 left in the half.

The Lakers then proceeded to outscore the Suns 17-6 before the half ended and went in with a 62-47 lead. This particular band of Suns was not about to make much of a dent in that.

“I thought from the beginning, our defense was much more alert,” Riley said. “Our running game was better because our defense was better.

“If you come ready to play your game, and you’re at home and you’re a heavy favorite, you take care of the game and you get into the pine (bench).

“If you get behind, you have to battle to get back. That’s not the way we want to do it.”

And so the Lakers rested. Scott got his game-high 30 points in a team-high 36 minutes. James Worthy went 35 minutes, Magic Johnson and Green 32, Abdul-Jabbar a mere 23.

“It’s the first time some of the guys have had a chance to rest,” Riley said. “I think if we come in the first six-seven minutes and establish ourselves and don’t get frustrated. . . . I can’t guarantee that ever night. Without hard work, you struggle.”

Laker Notes

Pat Riley says he hopes that Michael Cooper, who now sits behind him during games, will be ready on schedule for the game with the Golden State Warriors Friday. “He’s driving me nuts,” Riley said. “He’s talking to me before the game, at halftime. . . . “ . . . Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s four points made this the eighth single-figure scoring night he’d had since his double-figures streak ended at 787 Dec. 4 in Milwaukee. . . . Billy Thompson got 6 minutes and went 0 for 4. He again looked like he was favoring his surgically-repaired left knee, but he says it’s “getting better every day.” . . . Byron Scott had run down a little following his 38 points against the Celtics, had shot 46.8% (against his season mark of 52.6) in his last five games before Sunday’s. “He was back fresh tonight,” Riley said. “We look for him. We’re running some plays for him so he doesn’t have to live off the other guys.” . . . The Lakers have now won 34 of their last 37. Their 45-9 record surpasses the 1978-79 Trail Blazers’ 44-19 and stands as the best start any team has had in 16 seasons.