Magic’s Return Is Dashing : Johnson Has 10 Points, 12 Assists in Win Over Rockets

They had been champagne without the bubbles, a taco without the salsa, Brie without the Chardonnay.

“We were like the Israelites in the desert,” said that Laker master of metaphor, Mychal Thompson, “without Moses.”

They had been the Lakers without an injured Magic Johnson, a six-game preview of future shock for owner Jerry Buss and devotees of Showtime.

But then, 5 minutes 17 seconds into Tuesday night’s 117-95 win against the Houston Rockets, the ordinary became extraordinary again. Magic was back, to the acclaim of a standing ovation from a sellout crowd of 17,505 in the Forum.

When Johnson checked in, the Lakers were down, 18-11. When he checked out, after 24 minutes, the Lakers were ahead, 89-61. In his half-game’s worth of work, the Lakers outscored the Rockets, 68-37.

So why had Pat Riley waited so long in this game to re-introduce Magic, who had been out with a groin strain for nearly a fortnight?

“That’s called making an entrance,” Thompson said. “This is Hollywood, you know.”

Even in a make-believe world, Johnson’s return bordered on surreal. Replacing rookie Milt Wagner, Johnson missed his first shot, the junior skyhook, but moments later, he threaded a pass to James Worthy for an easy layup. His first basket was typical Magic--an off-balance, one-handed shot in the lane that went in after the referees had whistled a foul on Robert Reid.

Johnson drew another foul from Reid, made both free throws, and the Rocket lead was 22-21. After a Houston basket, the Lakers had a 3-on-1 fast break, with Magic giving it the look-one-way, dish-off-the-other pass to Worthy for an easy two. Johnson fed Worthy for his next basket, too, and moments later he sent Worthy in on a backdoor jam.

Somehow, the Rockets still led after the first quarter, 30-29, but Johnson opened the second quarter with another driving layup plus free throw, touching off a 9-2 run from which the Lakers never looked back.

In his first 9 minutes, Johnson had 7 assists, 3 rebounds and had made 3 of 4 shots. He finished with 10 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds, while elevating the game of everyone around him--at least those in purple and gold.

“I liken Magic to the quarterback on a football team,” said Kurt Rambis, whose second straight start resulted in a productive 12 points (5 of 6 shots), 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 20 minutes.

“Even though you have all the same performers on the court, when the quarterback isn’t in the game, something’s missing. No matter how good your backup quarterback is, something’s missing. He’s our leader, our driver, everybody depends on him.”

Johnson’s return really couldn’t have been any other way, Rambis said.

“He has to play,” Rambis said. “This is what Magic was born to do. It was driving him crazy sitting on the bench and watching.

“It was killing him as much as it was killing us.”

The Rockets might as well have been declared done once Johnson entered the game. This was Houston’s fourth straight loss to the Lakers this season--eighth straight overall--and none of the 1987-88 games have been close yet.

Although the Rockets (38-26) slipped into third place in the Midwest Division, they earned a playoff berth when the Phoenix Suns lost, 103-96, to the Jazz in Utah.

All-Star center Akeem Olajuwon, who had scored 20 or more points in 13 straight games, managed just 11 Tuesday night, while hounded on defense by Thompson, Rambis and A.C. Green, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds in a relief role.

Olajuwon still managed to lead the Rockets’ starters in scoring. Rodney McCray had 10, Reid 10, Eric (Sleepy) Floyd 8 and Jim Petersen 4. On the boards, they were overmatched by the Lakers--26-14 in the first half (9 to 1 on the offensive glass), 48-37 overall.

“We’re just not playing well,” Reid said. “You compare our fast break to theirs--I mean, we came in with a YMCA fast break and they had one from the NBA.”

Johnson’s return didn’t go unnoticed by the Rockets, either.

“As soon as he got in, the fans went crazy, and the players picked it up another notch,” Petersen said. “We saw them playing Phoenix on videotape without Magic, and we saw them live tonight.

“Man, it’s like night and day.”

Thompson said that before the game, you would have thought someone had turned the lights out on Magic.

“He looked like he was taking a nap before the game, before he goes out and puts on the best show ever on a basketball court,” Thompson said. “All the little boy comes out of every pore in him in that situation. His excitement and enthusiasm picked the whole team and the Forum up.”

Why does he have that impact?

“He loves to play the game, he loves to entertain and he loves to win,” Thompson said. “Put those three things together and you have Magic Johnson.”

And by Friday, when the Lakers play the Denver Nuggets here, Johnson may even be a starter again, although Riley was hedging.

“I’m trying to get him named Sixth Man of the Year,” Riley said.

Laker Notes

The Lakers’ other injured guard, Michael Cooper, will be postponing his return for another week, barring a miraculous recovery. Cooper, who has missed 15 of the Lakers’ last 17 games with a severely sprained left ankle, is improving, but after being examined again by Dr. Robert Kerlan on Tuesday, the decision was made to keep him out of weekend games against Denver (Friday) and Sacramento (Saturday). “My hopes are high because I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel,” Cooper said. “It looks good. Now I have to give it a chance to be healed, and not do something stupid, like go out there and aggravate it. It was hard to do, but I’ve faced the fact that I’m injured and have to deal with it.” . . . Judging by Wanda Cooper’s comments on the TV halftime interview, it may be easier for Cooper to deal with it than his wife. “At first he was irritable, but now he’s in a funk,” Wanda said. “I’d like to have ‘irritable’ back. If he doesn’t make the next road trip, I will.”