An Effort to Crowd Lakers Out : Pistons Expect 60,000 Fans in Silverdome Today

This may be a homecoming for Magic Johnson, but it’s a coming-out party for the Detroit Pistons.

So, while the guest list for Game 3 of the NBA Finals this afternoon will include Earvin Johnson Sr., who hates to fly and has never seen his son play in a championship series, he could easily get lost in the crowd at the Pontiac Silverdome, where a union card still carries as much currency as a screen test at the Forum.

“There’ll be 60,000 crazy carmakers in here screaming,” said Piston forward John Salley, expecting the biggest crowd in NBA playoff history, not to mention some absenteeism on the assembly line, for Detroit’s home debut in the Finals.

“The crowds now are so fanatical,” Piston center Bill Laimbeer said. “When they saw we had a chance to beat Boston, they were going wild from the national anthem on.”

So, while the Lakers can expect some home cooking from Magic’s mother, Christine, who will use a friend’s car and her husband’s truck to cart over a postgame meal of sweet potato pie, fried chicken, greens and grits, Salley said they shouldn’t lose sight of one thing.

“This isn’t Lansing,” he said, referring to the nearby town that spawned Magic. “This is our home court.”

It’s also a football stadium, which has posed problems for more than one visiting team, especially in the afternoon, when light filters through the Silverdome roof. There are also wind tunnels that occasionally produce a breeze on the court.

“You’ve got to play the wind,” Detroit Coach Chuck Daly said. “It’s like a playground.”

That may not be so bad, Laker guard Michael Cooper said.

“If it’s windy, I might be able to hit the basket,” said Cooper, who has made just 1 of 12 shots in this series.

Added Mychal Thompson, who is 1 for 7: “As long as the rims don’t move, we’ll be OK.”

The drafts, the Lakers can deal with. It’s the Detroit whirlwind they have to watch out for, the same one that blew the Boston Celtics out of the playoffs in six games in the Eastern finals. The Pistons, after splitting the first two games with the Lakers in the Forum, could win a championship without leaving home again, especially with a defense that has limited the Lakers to 42.5% shooting.

“I like our chances,” Piston guard Isiah Thomas said of the next three games. “Last year, we were a baby. We got up to take our first step and failed. Now, we’re walking.”

The Lakers, meanwhile, have stumbled regularly on the playoff road. They’re 2-5 away from home, and have lost their last four by an average of 14 points. And unless center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his backup, Thompson, can right themselves in a hurry, the Lakers will soon come face to face with the end of the road.

“Our center position is going to have to give us more than 31% shooting, 10 combined rebounds and 3 blocked shots,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “Our centers don’t have many defensive responsibilities, because Detroit is not a postup team. But I’m not as concerned about their offense as (I am) their defense, blocking shots, getting rebounds, maintaining position.”

Riley is as mystified as anybody else about the dramatic drop-off in Thompson’s numbers: an average of 20.7 points and 13 rebounds vs. San Antonio, 9.9 points and 9.7 rebounds vs. Utah, 7.4 points and 5.4 rebounds vs. Dallas, 3 points and 3.5 rebounds vs. the Pistons, with 2 points and 3 rebounds in Game 2.

“I talked to Mychal the other day and said, ‘Let’s go,’ ” Riley said. “I don’t have time to say, ‘Meet me in a couple of days after you get it together.’

“He knows. He’s feeling bad about his performance.”

If Abdul-Jabbar--who is shooting 35.7% and has 3 rebounds in two games--is feeling badly as well, Detroit center Laimbeer took pains not to rub salt in his wounds.

“I don’t have the foggiest idea,” Laimbeer said when asked why Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook was falling harmlessly to the earth with such regularity.

“All we can do is push him out as far as possible to make him take longer shots. We don’t have anyone who can block it.”

Someone asked Laimbeer if he thought Detroit’s 7-foot-5 Chuck Nevitt, a one-time backup to Abdul-Jabbar, blocked many of Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhooks in practice.

“He used to block numerous shots--8 out of 10,” Laimbeer said sarcastically. “There--is that controversial enough for you?”

Detroit Coach Daly could do without a repeat of the Game 2 controversy, in which referee Jess Kersey--mistakenly believing that Abdul-Jabbar missed the rim altogether with his skyhook--ruled that the 24-second clock was incorrectly reset. At the moment Kersey blew his whistle, Dennis Rodman was making a steal and plotting a breakaway dunk that would have cut the Laker lead to three with a minute and a half to play.

Instead, Rodman dribbled down the court and handed the basketball to Dyan Cannon. Possession was given back to the Lakers, Magic Johnson was fouled, and he made both free throws for a seven-point Laker lead.

“Should have been our ball either way,” Daly said. “This was the third game we’ve lost where everyone’s gone to the third official to get a neutral decision. That’s interesting.”

He was referring to two debated calls in the Boston series: the Kevin McHale was-he-stepping-on-the-line three-pointer in Game 2, and the near-goaltending by Robert Parish on Joe Dumars’ last shot in Game 4.

No wonder Daly was reluctant to make any predictions for this afternoon.

“I’ve seen too many strange things happen in this building,” he said, mindful of how the Pistons came out and missed 20 straight shots against the Celtics here on Memorial Day.

For Magic Johnson, stepping into this building with a championship on the line and his family in the stands is a strange and wonderful dream come true. When asked, however, whether he was afraid he might try to do too much, he shook his head.

“No, ‘cause I won’t,” Johnson said. “I’m going to play my game. I always play my game, regardless of the situation.”

Salley, for one, expected as much.

“I’m not giving any homecoming,” he said. “He could be playing in Kalamazoo or Atlanta, Georgia, and he’d play the same way. He’s playing for a championship.”

NBA Finals Notes

Magic Johnson, who played Game 2 despite suffering from the stomach flu, said he’s feeling much better. He ate solid foods for the first time Friday night. . . . Wes Matthews, who missed the team’s flight Friday, said he became ill from taking anti-inflammatory medication the night before after getting struck in the back during Game 2. Pat Riley, asked if he intended to fine Matthews, said: “He was sick. I doubt it.” . . . The Pistons had to import a basket from Cleveland’s Richfield Coliseum to replace the one fans tore down after Detroit eliminated Boston in the Eastern finals. . . . A local radio station is distributing 10,000 Jack Nicholson masks to fans attending today’s game. . . . The Silverdome should set a record for the largest crowd in playoff history, eclipsing the Seattle Kingdome crowd of 40,172 for the Bucks-SuperSonics game on April 15, 1980, in the Western Conference finals.