NBA Finals Notes : Thompson Tells Himself to Get With It, or Else

Mychal Thompson issued himself an ultimatum Friday.

The Laker center-forward, who had his playoff-low, two points, as the Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 108-96, Thursday night at the Forum, said he deserves to stay on the bench if he has a dismal outing in Game 3 Sunday at the Silverdome.

“I expect big things out of me Sunday,” said Thompson, who has only six points and seven rebounds in the first two games of the 1988 National Basketball Assn. Finals, which is tied at one game apiece. “If I’m still not playing the way (Coach Pat) Riley expects me to, he ought to bench me and not play me the rest of the series. I wouldn’t be upset at Riley, I’d be upset at me for allowing it to happen.

“I just want to win a championship so I can get free hotel rooms back home in the Bahamas this summer,” Thompson said. “If I go back there and we don’t win it, I’ll have a lot of explaining to do. They may take me out on a fishing trip and make me swim back to shore.”

Said Riley: “I’m glad Mychal is that candid. We need more out of Mychal. I know he can score, but I want him to play defense, block shots and rebound. He’ll get his shots; we need solid defense out of him.”

Thompson played a key role off the bench in the Lakers’ drive to the 1987 NBA title, averaging 11.2 points against the Boston Celtics in the Finals. The Lakers’ leading scorer off the bench during the regular season, Thompson has shot .143 against the Pistons, missing 6 of 7 shots, and is averaging just 3 points and 3.5 rebounds in the series. Thompson was the Lakers’ top rebounder in 7 of their first 11 playoff games, but he is averaging just 5.5 rebounds in his last 11 games.

“I sort of faded out,” Thompson said. “But just because I’m not scoring doesn’t mean that I can’t play good defense and concentrate on rebounding.”

Magic update: Magic Johnson, who got out of a sick bed to score 23 points, pass off for 11 assists and grab 7 rebounds Thursday night, said he was feeling much better Friday but still had some carryover flu symptoms.

Nothing, he says, could keep him from running the Laker offense Sunday.

Johnson, who grew up in East Lansing, Mich., and led Michigan State to the 1979 NCAA title, said he expects 25 to 30 family members to attend Sunday’s game at the Silverdome.

“You always dream about it, and now it’s reality,” Johnson said of his homecoming in the championship series.

Missing in action: Guard Wes Matthews missed the Lakers’ flight, which left Los Angeles for Detroit at 9 a.m. Friday. He was scheduled to arrive here late Friday night.

“I’ll have to find out what happened,” Riley said. “Wes called (trainer) Gary Vitti and said he was going to the doctor’s office.”

Laker Kurt Rambis, who played for the first time in five games Thursday night, expects to see more action as the series resumes.

Two fans held up a hand-painted sign that read: “No Rambis, No Rings,” before Thursday night’s game against the Pistons, and Rambis got a standing ovation when he entered the game.

“I painted the sign and paid them to hold it up,” Rambis joked. “I appreciated that. It felt great to know that people support me and want to see me play.”

Jack McCloskey, Piston general manager, visited center William Bedford, who is undergoing treatment for cocaine abuse at a drug clinic in Van Nuys.

Bedford, Detroit’s backup center, has been there since March 2. He isn’t allowed to leave the clinic and was unable to attend the first two games of the NBA Finals at the Forum.

“He (Bedford) looked great,” McCloskey told the Detroit News. “He’s been lifting weights and working out every day with Orlando Woolridge (a New Jersey Nets forward, who is a patient at the clinic).”

The Pistons flew home immediately after Thursday night’s game and didn’t practice Friday.

They will work out this morning at the Silverdome, and the Lakers will practice this afternoon. Riley said he wants the team to get used to playing under the Silverdome’s translucent roof during the daytime.