Trail Blazers, Injuries Keep Lakers Down : Cooper Hurts Ankle Again in 112-95 Loss at Portland

Pat Riley won’t go so far as saying the Lakers are laying down without Magic Johnson.

But after watching a 112-95 Trail Blazer dunk-a-thon here Tuesday night, the Laker coach was left to wonder when the rest of the Lakers planned to stand up and be counted.

Michael Cooper, meanwhile, was worried that he might have to be counted out again because of his sprained left ankle, which already has caused him to miss a dozen games and may force him back to the sideline again. Cooper, who aggravated the injury again in the fourth quarter here, said he plans to see Dr. Robert Kerlan today when the team returns to Los Angeles.

“I might have come back too soon,” Cooper said after the Lakers’ third blowout loss in four games without Johnson. “It’s kind of depressing.”

For the Trail Blazers, who ran and jammed at will against the Lakers, their ninth straight win was nothing short of exhilarating. Their starting backcourt of Terry Porter and Clyde Drexler outscored the Laker starting backcourt of Byron Scott and Wes Matthews, 64-18.

Porter had 33 points and made 12 baskets in a row, many of them jumpers from outside, while dishing off 8 assists, grabbing 6 rebounds and making 5 steals.

Drexler had 31 points--including some of the most spectacular dunks this side of Michael Jordan--8 assists, 3 steals and 9 rebounds, all off the offensive glass.

Richard Anderson, who had missed all 11 of his shots here against the Lakers in January--the single-worst shooting night of any player in the league this season--had 14 points, including 2 three-pointers, and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.

The Trail Blazers were missing some big guns of their own--Kiki Vandeweghe (back), Steve Johnson (knees) and Sam Bowie (what else is new)--and had two of their big men, Jerome Kersey and Kevin Duckworth, in foul trouble, but still managed to coast against the Lakers. It got so bad, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench.

“Ugly,” said Riley, who was reluctant to cut the Lakers any slack for playing their 8th game in the last 12 nights, a stretch in which they went 5-3.

“It was brilliant from (Portland’s) part. That was as good a game as anybody has given us all year.

“But what I have to ask is this: ‘Does the loss of a great player mean the collapse of a great team?’ ”

It may not be a collapse, but the air is definitely leaking out of all tires right now.

“I can’t even fathom the three games that we were blown out in--Chicago, Dallas and now Portland,” Riley said. “Our players are not taking the challenge. This team is not playing with any purpose.”

Tuesday night, the Lakers played like a team sucking wind against the Trail Blazers, who racked up an astonishing 27 offensive rebounds--17 in the first half alone--en route to a decisive 56-38 beating on the boards.

“Our second and third effort was just horrendous,” Riley said. “They may have set a record for dunks with about 30. . . . We were outclassed, outhustled, and outcoached. It was total.”

That about covers it for the Lakers, who got as close as 10 in the fourth quarter, when Cooper made it 98-88 with a layin with 6:43 to go, but then faded fast. The Lakers turned the ball over 23 times, leaving Drexler and Kersey to take turns setting each other for monster jams.

“That might have been the best game we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Portland Coach Mike Schuler, whose Frail Blazers--as they’re called in Portland--haven’t been beaten since a one-point loss to Boston on Feb. 24.

The win was the 40th of the season for Portland, whose record is surpassed only by the four division leaders.

James Worthy didn’t have to look far to find a comparison to the Blazers’ play.

“We’ve done this to other teams before,” said Worthy, who led the Lakers with 21 points. “It’s not much fun to have somebody dunk in our faces and jam it down our throats.

“That’s what they did to us. We got a taste of what we do to a lot of other teams.”

Matthews, meanwhile, the logical fill-in for the injured Johnson, got another prolonged taste of the bench, as Riley yanked him after five scoreless minutes of the first half. Had Matthews taken up residence in Riley’s doghouse?

“Ask him,” Matthews said.

Riley was too busy asking what the Lakers would do if Johnson were to get injured in the playoffs.

“Don’t we have the grit to fight back without him?” Riley said. “Tonight we were exposed for what we are right now: Not very good.”

It may be that they’re just good and tired, but publicly, at least, Riley wasn’t buying it.

“Terminal offense, lack of movement, mental mistakes,” he said. “We were bottom of the barrel, and in this league that can happen overnight.

“Right now, this team is not playing without any purpose. What are we playing for? What? We’re shrugging our shoulders.”

Leaving the Trail Blazers to square theirs.

“Our confidence level is as high as I’ve ever seen it here,” said Porter, who set a career high with his output.