Lakers Win in Overtime : Magic’s Improbable Shot That Tied It Demoralizes Bullets

Today, Laker owner Jerry Buss will announce that the Forum has changed its name, adding a corporate sponsor like some golf tournament or a struggling college bowl game would.

But if they really wanted to accurately dub the building, at least on the nights when the Lakers occupy it, the Magic Kingdom would be the only choice.

Sunday night, the Magic Johnson folk legend grew even larger. With the Lakers trailing the Washington Bullets by three points with 1 second to play, Johnson took an inbound pass 40 feet away from the Laker basket and lofted a fade-away set-shot off one foot that hit nothing but net.

Johnson’s 3-point shot that forced the overtime hit the Bullets, who had outplayed the Lakers most of the way, hard. After Johnson intervened, the beleaguered Bullets wilted under the Lakers’ inspired play in overtime and lost, 119-112, in front of 17,505 at the Forum, which soon will be the called Great Western Forum.

The Lakers almost expect such great finishes in the west from Johnson, who has taken control of the club and led the way with 29 points Sunday. Last month in Denver, Johnson sank a 3-point shot to give the Lakers a double overtime victory. And, his junior, junior skyhook against the Boston Celtics 2 seasons ago is legend.

But Johnson’s last-second shot--no, heave--from just inside the circle at midcourt had to rate among the most improbable.

Coming off a screen from James Worthy and Jeff Lamp, Johnson took the inbounds pass from Michael Cooper and barely had time to turn before letting it fly. The buzzer sounded during the ball’s flight, and the crowd and his Laker teammates celebrated. Johnson, however, hardly changed expressions.

“I gotta do something to surprise you,” Johnson said, jokingly. “Hey, I didn’t know it was going to go in. I knew I had to get it and shoot it right away. If I got it straight, I might have a chance.”

Washington, it seemed, didn’t have a chance after that demoralizing Laker comeback.

The Lakers scored the first 6 points in overtime, withstood a Bullet rally and pulled away by converting free throws in the final minute.

So, the Lakers (12-3 and 6-0 at home) managed to dodge the Bullets on a night when they were outplayed. The one thing Washington did not have, however, was Magic Johnson.

The Bullets must have liked their position with 1 second left in regulation. Bernard King, who led all scorers with 37 points, had made a jump shot with 39 seconds left to give Washington a 105-101 lead. Then, after James Worthy made one free throw to make it a three-point deficit, a Bullet miss gave the Lakers the ball at half court.

The Lakers called two timeouts to set up a final shot, although probably everyone at the Forum could have guessed that Johnson would be the shooter. The only problem for the Lakers, however, was finding a way to get Johnson open.

When play finally resumed, Cooper had trouble inbounding the ball, so he called a 20-second time out. But then Lamp and Worthy presented a barricade that Johnson was able to fight through to receive the ball.

“What can I say?” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “ . . . I thought if we could just get the ball inbounds and get it airborne.

“It was remarkable. There’s not a lot I can say about it. Whether it was lucky or not, it went in.”

Cooper, witness to nearly all of Johnson’s last-second heroics over the years, expressed wonderment.

“The whole play stopped,” he said. “It seemed like it moved in slow-motion. It took 15 seconds, like one of those movies. Everyone could see the (ball’s) rotation. Then, it hits the net and it’s back to real life.”

Except for Cooper, Riley and most of the Lakers seemed more relieved than elated by the victory. Maybe that’s because the Bullets (4-10) outrebounded the Lakers (42-40), outshot them (51.5%-50%) and simply outhustled them in the final three quarters.

“I might sound blase, but that’s probably because our overall team play was not very good,” Riley said. “We can not continue to get bailed out by last-second shots.”

Oh yes, the Lakers can.

Johnson has continually proven that.

Even though the Bullets knew Johnson was most likely going to receive the inbounds pass, it was almost as if they were powerless to do anything about it.

“The whole thing, I said--and I said it 10 times--’Don’t let him catch it,” Bullets’ Coach Wes Unseld said. “If he (catches it), wrap him up. That’s what happens when things aren’t going great for you. Things like that happen.”

The Bullets, who had lost two straight coming into Sunday’s game, sensed victory as early as the second quarter, when they took advantage of sluggish Laker play to take the lead.

They lost it in the third quarter, when the Lakers built as much as an eight-point lead with 5:04 left. But behind King, who made 18 of 28 shots, and former Crenshaw High School star John Williams, who had 8 of his 26 points in the quarter, the Bullets eventually caught and passed the Lakers.

High-fives were being exchanged and backs were slapped during each of the Lakers’ timeouts with 1 second to play. That celebration proved premature.

“That’s why they say you gotta believe in Magic,” Williams said. “We tried to deny him the ball, but on the inbounds play, he faked inside and then juked out. It was a hell of a shot. There’s nothing you can do about something like that.”

Johnson, who had 17 assists and 8 rebounds to go with 29 points, disagreed.

“I had a good chance when it went straight up,” he said. “I got it straight up; all that I wanted.

“Everybody was so quiet, and . . . boom. That’s it.”

Laker Notes

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar missed his third straight game with a badly bruised right knee. Abdul-Jabbar was examined by Dr. Stephen Lombardo who said the center has improved, but will not practice today and remains day-to-day. . . . Magic Johnson, who three games ago passed Lenny Wilkens to move into second place on the NBA’s all-time assist list, probably will not pass all-time leader Oscar Robertson until the 1990-91 season. Roberston had 9,887 assists in 14 seasons. Should Johnson continue to accumulate assists at his current rate, he will surpass Robertson’s total in his 12th season. . . . Washington forward Bernard King turned 32 Sunday night. . . . Later Sunday night the Lakers remeasured Johnson’s shot at the end of regulation only to find it was 37, not 40, feet.