Suns Keep Heat on Lakers; Magic Ejected in 111-96 Loss

As the Laker losses mount, they become increasingly difficult to slough off. There is clearly a problem here, and the Lakers currently seem incapable of correcting it.

They tried again Monday night, only to have the inspired Phoenix Suns slap them with a 111-96 loss that raised Laker frustrations to a peak while their road problems crashed to a low.

Undoubtedly the low point of this Laker odyssey, which evolved into 6 straight road losses, came late in the fourth quarter when Magic Johnson, in what is believed to be a first in his 10-season National Basketball Assn. career, was ejected for taking strong exception to a possession call on a missed shot.

Johnson was ejected for first refusing to surrender the ball to referee Billy Oakes and then tossing it aside. His long walk to the locker room, accompanied by a chorus of boos from the crowd of 14,471 typified the Laker frustration.

Johnson may have been protesting a questionable call. But he admitted afterward that his emotional outburst had roots in a Laker slump that has reached a critical stage.

“I’m frustrated from losing,” Johnson said. “I’ve never been through this before. I maybe had to get this out of me. I’m sorry it happened to the team. But when you’ve never gone through anything like this, you don’t know how to react.”

The same could be said of Johnson’s teammates. A team accustomed to winning, the Lakers seem as baffled as anyone by their poor play. They haven’t lost this many consecutively on the road since March, 1979.

The Lakers, who ended an early-season stretch in which they played 19 of their first 27 games on the road, know the symptoms. The lack of penetration and movement on offense. The defensive and, occasionally, mental lapses. But they don’t yet have the cure.

Coach Pat Riley, who benched Orlando Woolridge in an attempt to shake things up, said he saw encouraging signs. This, despite the fact that the Lakers shot 39.8% and were outrebounded by the Suns, 51-42.

“I saw some positive things and, they are this: We played as hard and worked more,” Riley said. “We played harder, but not better. But before we play better, we have to play harder. (Sunday) in Utah, I don’t think we did either.”

Had the Lakers’ execution matched their effort Monday night, perhaps the outcome might have been different. But then, maybe not.

The Suns, even without guards Dan Majerle and Jeff Hornacek, built as much as a 13-point lead late in the second quarter and then held off repeated Laker comeback attempts in the second half.

After Johnson’s ejection, Laker hopes seemingly walked off the court with him. The Suns, who received 23 points from Tom Chambers, 21 points and 10 rebounds from Tyrone Corbin and also 21 points from Eddie Johnson, outscored the Lakers, 17-10, in the final 4 minutes.

The 15-point loss tied the Lakers’ biggest margin of defeat this season, the other such blowout coming in San Antonio in the second game of the season.

So badly did the Lakers (17-10) want to win this one and end the early-season road swing without another loss that Riley basically stayed with his seven veteran players. That decision excluded Woolridge, who played well early this season but has struggled often in recent games. Woolridge said it was the first time in his career that he has not played because of a coach’s decision. He seemed equally baffled and upset with his benching.

“You guys are asking the wrong person,” Woolridge told reporters afterward. “It’s not my decision who plays. Ask the coach.”

Said Riley: “I went for the win tonight. On my team, you’ve got to earn your stripes to play. I went with the guys who have won for me. Until he (Woolridge) proves himself, when it comes to winning games, I’ll go with the guys who got me the rings.

“Tonight, I thought they (his veteran players) would come out of it. I basically went with 6 or 7 players.”

The Lakers, however, did not emerge from many of their recently acquired bad habits. Although there was more movement and fast breaking on offense, they still shot below 40%.

Byron Scott and Johnson, who had 24 and 22 points, respectively, shot reasonably well. But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went 2 for 8 and James Worthy’s cold shooting continued with a 7-for-21 performance.

Defensively, the Lakers allowed the likes of Corbin, Mark West (10 rebounds) and Ed Nealy (4 rebounds) to control the inside. Phoenix, which has won 4 straight and 9 in a row at home, also was able to convert Laker missed shots and 15 turnovers into many fast-break points.

“We were trying so hard to win tonight--we really wanted it bad--that we even missed layups,” Johnson said. “We really came out to play hard. We have to build on this effort. Tonight is the first time in a while I felt from minute 1 to minute 48 that we played hard.”

Actually, Johnson was not around for the 48th and final minute of this loss. Afterward, he still seemed upset at the official’s call and his ejection, which he implied was not warranted.

I didn’t say anything to (Oakes),” Johnson said. “I just held out the ball, then threw it down and he gave me a ‘T.’ Then, he gave me another one, and I didn’t do anything after the first one.”

Riley, who said he was not criticizing Johnson, nonetheless said the Lakers had to avoid blaming others--such as referees--for their problems and look inward.

“I don’t want our players now, when things get tough, to cry about the officiating,” Riley said. “Even though it could have been better, you can’t look to that. But what Buck (Magic) did was justifiable. It was an obvious call that didn’t go our way.”

Neither did anything else for the Lakers Monday night.

Laker Notes

The Lakers, whose road record fell to 9-10, play just 5 road games in January, one of which is at the Sports Arena against the Clippers. The Lakers are off today and play the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. “Back at the start, we said we’d be happy if we would go 19-10 after this (road stretch),” Pat Riley said. “We still have a chance to achieve that with 2 wins at home (against Philadelphia Wednesday and the Clippers Friday night).” . . . Said Mychal Thompson, who made only 3 of 8 shots in 29 minutes Monday night: “We missed (Woolridge) out there, his creativity and energy on both ends of the floor.”