Lakers Barely Turn Up Heat in a 138-91 Victory

In the end, it was difficult to decide which the Lakers took less seriously: the elbow injury Kareem Abdul-Jabbar developed overnight, or the Miami Heat, the expansion team the Kareem-less Lakers beat by a mere 47 points Wednesday night, 138-91.

“As you can tell, there’s a real panic in this room,” said third-string center Mark McNamara, whose 9 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes of playing time Wednesday could be traced directly to the absence of Abdul-Jabbar and the existence of the Heat which, depending on your grammatical preference, was, or were, simply awful.

Mychal Thompson, who started in Abdul-Jabbar’s place, made all 9 of his shots and scored a season-high 20 points, also tried to mask his concern for Abdul-Jabbar.

“Mac and I will hold it together until Cap gets back,” Thompson said. “He’ll be all right, once he puts some 3-in-1 oil on it.”

Abdul-Jabbar showed up at the Miami Arena saying he hurt his right elbow the night before in New York, when Knick guard Mark Jackson wrenched his arm and practically hyper-extended it. The team issued a statement saying that Abdul-Jabbar sprained the elbow, and the 41-year-old captain did not dress for the game.

That eliminated any mystery of how motivated Abdul-Jabbar could possibly be in Miami less than 24 hours after the emotional send-off he’d gotten in his farewell appearance in his hometown. It didn’t begin to answer, however, how easily the Lakers would toy with the Heat, which has now gone 8 games into Julio Iglesias’ career as a basketball owner (limited partner) without a win.

James Worthy had 11 points before 5 minutes elapsed and he didn’t even finish the night as the team’s leading scorer. That distinction went to Orlando Woolridge, who went from making 1 of 17 shots in his last 3 games to 22-point producer against the Heat.

“What does it mean? It means a lot to me,” said Woolridge, who also registered the night’s most spectacular solo play when he rejected a driving shot by Miami’s Kevin Edwards all the way to midcourt, where it was scooped up by Tony Campbell for a breakaway jam.

“It’s still five guys playing a game,” Woolridge said. “I don’t care if it’s the Heat or Utah.”

Even if those five guys had names like Sylvester Gray and Pat Cummings, Grant Long and John Shasky and even Billy Thompson, an enigmatic bench-warmer with the Heat just as he was with the Lakers.

Center Rony Seikaly, the team’s top draft choice from Syracuse, turned in a respectable 21 points, but the Miami defense had about as much chance of stopping the Lakers--whose 64.4% shooting set a standard for the league this season--as the Coast Guard had of keeping Bahamians from seeing their native son, Mychal Thompson, just 90 miles away from his island home.

Others may have been concerned by his absence of production, but not Thompson, even though his scoring average had dropped to 6.4. The only thing he botched Wednesday was a free throw, and he personally outscored the Heat, 8-0, at the start of the third quarter, when the Lakers extended their 22-point halftime lead, 70-48, to 30.

Was he surprised that he didn’t miss a shot?

“Of course not,” Thompson said. “Do I ever? About 5 years ago, I was 11 for 11 for Portland, but that’s when I used to be a player.

“You can’t score without the ball, and they haven’t been giving me the ball. I’ve only been getting about 2 shots a game.

“I’m not complaining, that’s just the way it turned out.”

Magic Johnson, who has recently made a habit of scolding Thompson during games, might argue that Thompson has failed to hold onto the ball when Johnson has delivered it, but there were no complaints about clumsy fingers Wednesday from Magic, who rolled up 17 assists in a mere 26 minutes.

The other big scorer off the Laker bench, which contributed 60 points, was Campbell, who had 19 points and 9 rebounds and took some teasing from the Laker bench after delivering a rare assist. Campbell, in fact, was irked that the official box score credited him with just one, a position that Byron Scott--who had 21 points--backed up.

“I fed Byron for a jump shot in the corner, and I gave a pass to O (Woolridge) for a flip,” Campbell said in mock anger. “They’re ripping me, man.”

As badly as the Lakers ripped the Heat, Campbell disputed the notion that playing for an expansion team is a fate worse than death. He was sure, in fact, that he was headed for Miami until the Lakers decided to protect him instead of Billy Thompson in the expansion draft.

“It would have been no problem--I think I would have fit right in,” Campbell said. “I was planning to go to Miami, I had no idea the Lakers were going to protect me. I’m a player. I’d come out and play, no matter what.”

McNamara, too, had the option of trying to catch on with an expansion team before signing with the Lakers as a free agent.

“I call it a revolving door,” McNamara said. “It’s good in some ways--you get a lot of time, you can work a lot on your game, you get quality minutes. And it’s one thing when you’re losing on an expansion team, and another to be struggling on a team that was expected to be good. The crows stay with you (in an expansion setting).”

Indeed, while there were numerous groans, there was nary a boo.

Asked how long it will take before the Heat will generate some light, Laker Coach Pat Riley responded with the story of an American businessman who went to Japan to study the success of a company there. What was its secret, the American asked the Japanese chairman of the board.

Setting goals, the Japanese replied. At his company, he said, they set 250-year goals. And what does it take to meet such goals?

Patience, he replied.

“And that,” Chairman Riley said, “is what you have to give to this team.”

Laker Notes

Laker guard Michael Cooper, who missed the last 2 games with a strained back muscle, scored 4 points in 15 minutes Wednesday night. He said he would have shown up in New York on Tuesday but that idea was scotched by team doctor Robert Kerlan. “I called him and told him I was on my way to the airport,” Cooper said, “and he said I’d better not leave L.A. When Dr. Kerlan gives you an ultimatum, you’d better listen, or he’ll get you someday.” . . . All 11 Lakers who dressed scored, including Jeff Lamp, who had 4 points. . . . After the game, Magic Johnson flew to Detroit, where he will serve as grand marshal of that city’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The rest of the team is scheduled to have dinner together here before flying Friday to Detroit, for Saturday’s nationally televised game. . . . The Lakers blocked 8 shots to Miami’s none, with Orlando Woolridge and David Rivers having 2 each.