Perkins and Mavericks Suffer Through Game They’d Like to Forget

Dallas forward Sam Perkins had his best game of the 1988 playoffs against Denver last Thursday night as the Mavericks advanced to the NBA Western Conference finals with a 108-95 victory over the Nuggets.

Perkins scored 23 points, had 11 rebounds and blocked 3 shots, and the Mavericks eliminated the Nuggets, 4 games to 2.

However, Perkins had one of the worst playoff games of his four-year pro career Monday night as the Lakers beat the Mavericks, 113-98, in the opening game of the Western Conference finals.

Perkins, who was matched against Laker forward James Worthy, his former teammate at North Carolina, wasn’t a factor for the Mavericks, who had won their previous three playoff games.

Worthy outscored Perkins, 28-8.

“James has been injured, but he looked like the Worthy I’ve seen all along,” Perkins said.

Said Worthy of the matchup against Perkins: “It’s been a great rivalry between us for the last four years. I’ve known Sam since college. He knows what I like to do, and I know what he likes to do.”

Said Laker guard Magic Johnson of Worthy, who made 12 of 17 shots and all 4 of his free throws: “James was great. It helped that James had a great game because he opened it up for the rest of us.”

While Worthy was having one of his better playoff games, Perkins suffered through the least productive playoff performance since he scored just six points against the Lakers in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series in 1986.

“I don’t think it was my worst game,” said Perkins, who made just 4 of 10 shots in 31 minutes. “My shots just didn’t fall. I won’t worry about this. I’ll just keep playing.”

The Lakers made Perkins vanish in the first half, when he failed to score a point for 14 minutes, missing both shots he attempted. And he got just one rebound.

The second half wasn’t much better for Perkins, who scored just two points in the third period and six in the final quarter.

Although Perkins isn’t the Mavericks’ main offensive weapon, he wasn’t a threat at all against the Lakers.

Perkins said Johnson, who checked him on defense, forced him to set up farther away from the basket than he normally likes to.

“I couldn’t set up like I wanted to,” Perkins said. “I was just out of place. I just couldn’t get the rotation on my shots.

Maverick forward Roy Tarpley, the NBA’s No. 1 sixth man, had one of the best playoff games of his two-year career.

Tarpley, the first reserve to finish among the NBA rebounding leaders, came off the bench to get 20 rebounds in 36 minutes, setting a club record for most rebounds in a playoff game.

Tarpley, however, shrugged off the record.

“I’d rather get no rebounds and win than get 20 rebounds and lose,” Tarpley said.

Tarpley said the Mavericks, who trailed by just three points at halftime, 52-49, wanted to come out strong in the second half. The Lakers, however, took control of the game in the second half, outscoring Dallas, 61-49.

“We hit our first shot to start the second half, and we thought we were in good shape, but then they took advantage of our mistakes,” Tarpley said. “It didn’t seem like they were missing any shots out there. And when you’ve got Coop (Michael Cooper) hitting three-pointers and Byron (Scott) scoring from all over the place, they’re a tough team to defense.”

Dallas guard Rolando Blackman, who scored 18 points, said the Lakers’ strong third quarter was too much for the Mavericks.

“It (the third quarter) definitely hurt us,” Blackman said. “We wanted to come out and make a statement to start the second half, but instead we came out lax and allowed them to dictate the action.”

The Laker defense also did a good job of shutting down Mark Aguirre, the Mavericks’ All-Star forward.

Aguirre, who led Dallas with 13 first-half points, including 9 in the opening quarter, scored 5 in the second half, making just 2 of 5 shots in 13 minutes.

“We got stagnant (in the second half),” Aguirre said. “We didn’t move, and there was no cutting (movement).”

Guard Derek Harper didn’t fare much better than Aguirre.

Harper, who scored 10 points in the first 12 minutes, got just 7 the rest of the way. He had one basket in the second quarter and wound up with only five points in the second half.

The Mavericks, who had three days of rest after eliminating Denver, didn’t seem too worried about their poor performance, perhaps because Dallas came back to eliminate the Nuggets after losing the series opener by 11 points at Denver.

“We also lost the first game at Denver,” Tarpley said. “Wednesday night, we’ll have to come out and be aggressive and just put two good halves together. We saw how Utah pounded and ran, and we feel we can do the same.”

Said Blackman: “I still feel very good about this team. They (the Lakers) are up one game, but it’s not over by any means.”