A Sick Magic Does the Trick for Lakers : Pistons Left to Bellyache After Defeat

The Detroit Pistons may blame it on the 24-second clock, but the Lakers flipped over the hourglass Thursday night in the NBA Finals with a 108-96 victory that bought them some time and a 1-1 tie in the best-of-seven series.

And while the Pistons were convinced the man of the hour was Gary Herman, the Forum’s 24-second clock operator whose timing cost Detroit’s Dennis Rodman a steal and an almost certain game-tightening basket in the last 1:39, Pat Riley nominated Magic Johnson, who had spent most of the day fighting a losing battle with the stomach flu but wouldn’t allow the Lakers to flush their title chances away.

“He was really weak,” Riley said. “I knew he was going to show up and play, but I told him that when he got a little tired to give me a signal, and he did.

“But he dug down and would not let us lose.”

Johnson, who said he felt tired three minutes into the game, played as if he could have gone all night, scoring 23 points, handing out 11 assists and grabbing 7 rebounds. He also broke free on the baseline for a pass from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, drew a foul from Joe Dumars and made two free throws that gave the Lakers a seven-point lead, 99-92, with 1:33 left, seconds after the Pistons had already counted on Rodman making it a three-point game.

Abdul-Jabbar, who a minute earlier had buried a buzzer-beating skyhook to put the Lakers ahead by five, 95-90, had put up a skyhook that appeared to miss the rim altogether. James Worthy, who led the Lakers with 26 points and had 10 rebounds, grabbed one of his five offensive boards. A moment later, however, his pass into the backcourt was intercepted by Rodman, who had only open floor ahead of him.

“I was going to do something,” Rodman said. “A 360 (dunk), 180, I don’t know.”

But before Rodman could decide on his degrees, referee Jess Kersey had blown his whistle. Kersey, believing that Abdul-Jabbar’s shot never touched the rim, ruled that the 24-second clock had been incorrectly reset. After an extended conversation at the scorer’s table, possession was awarded back to the Lakers with five seconds to make a play.

The ball was in-bounded to Abdul-Jabbar, who spotted Magic, who dusted off Dumars. On Detroit’s next possession, Worthy flashed across the lane to block a driving shot by Isiah Thomas, and A.C. Green (12 points, 13 rebounds) converted two free throws with 1:10 to go, assuring that this series would segue to the Silverdome with the teams tied at a game apiece.

“Fluky plays seem to hurt us,” said Piston center Bill Laimbeer, recalling Kevin McHale’s three-pointer that beat them in Boston and Larry Bird’s steal last season, among others. “Someday, they’ll come our way. Someday.”

TV replays showed that Abdul-Jabbar’s shot actually grazed the rim, vindicating timekeeper Herman, but it may take more than the slo-mo button on the VCR to convince Detroit Coach Chuck Daly.

Told by reporters of the visual evidence, Daly said: “Oh, no chance. It was so far over the rim, it almost went out of the building.”

From where Riley was standing, of course, Abdul-Jabbar might as well have been playing horseshoes, for the amount of iron he struck.

“It hit the rim--you all saw it,” he said.

And besides, he said, this game didn’t turn on one might-have-been play.

“It was a critical play, but I don’t know if it was that critical,” Riley said.

The Lakers attached much more significance to the defense that limited the Pistons to 43.5% shooting and a 39-point first half, kept Adrian Dantley (19 points) in check and pulled the plug on Vinnie (Microwave) Johnson, who made just 3 of 14 shots while missing some wide-open jumpers down the stretch.

There were also the two three-point shots that Scott--who had 24 points and 6 rebounds--hit in the game’s opening minutes, when he scored the Lakers’ first nine points while his teammates were missing everything they put up.

And there was the 11-2 charge they made in the fourth quarter after the Pistons--even though they missed 11 free throws, Laimbeer was in foul trouble and Isiah Thomas couldn’t shake loose from Scott--had pulled into an 80-80 tie with 8:17 to play.

After a timeout, Magic drove, was fouled, and made both free throws. Vinnie Johnson misfired, Green grabbed the rebound, and Worthy followed a Magic miss to make it 84-80.

John Salley threw in a reverse dunk on a four-pass fast break to cut it to two, but Worthy tipped in his own miss. Scott then made a free throw, and when Vinnie Johnson bobbled the ball, he picked him clean and went coast-to-coast for a driving layup to make it 89-82.

Rodman then lost the ball to Magic, who on the other end whipped a wraparound bounce pass to Worthy, whose layup try resulted in a goaltending call against Laimbeer.

“You have to credit their aggressive defense,” Daly said. “I thought they had the same kind of aggressiveness we had in the first game.”

Riley said he expected nothing less after the embarrassing dimensions of the Lakers’ defeat in Game 1.

“This team is mystifying to me,” he said. “Knowing what’s at stake, it seems as if they have to be humbled, really humbled, before they gather strength.”

And while Abdul-Jabbar may have been something less than a lion--he had 15 points but missed his first 6 shots and ended up with just 6 of 15--he delivered down the stretch.

“That was a big shot,” Laimbeer said of Abdul-Jabbar’s clock-beater. “He caught it, shot it and there wasn’t much I could do about it, other than to hope it wouldn’t drop. He missed some other shots, but he made the big hoop, like he’s done hundreds of times before.”

By the time this one was over, Magic was ready to drop.

“I really had to pace myself,” he said. “I’ve never had to do that before.

“(But) if I show my teammates I’m sick, it’s a big letdown. They look to me, and I’ve got to let them know I’m here to play.”

Play on, or die. It’s that simple.

“I knew that we were weak and handicapped with Magic having the flu and me hurt,” said Worthy, whose hip is still sore from his Game 1 fall, “but when you’re handicapped, you tend to play a lot harder.”

And so, it’s on to Motor City, where 40,000 maniacs, as Salley called them, are ready to put the pedal to the metal for the next three games in the Silverdome.

“More fans there than you can count,” Green said. “They don’t like you, they don’t root for you; it’s a tough place to play.”

And a worse place to be counted out.

Laker Notes

Kurt Rambis, who played four minutes and scored a point, was making his first appearance since Game 4 at Dallas. One Forum banner proclaimed, “No Rambis No Rings,” and his entrance late in the first quarter was greeted with a standing ovation. . . . This was only the fifth time in 18 playoff games that the Pistons had given up as many as 100 points. . . . Of the previous seven playoff series played under the 2-3-2 format, the team with the extra game at home has won six of them. The only exception was in ‘85, when the Lakers beat Boston in six games.