Lakers Tee Off on 76ers but Still Not Up to Par

Being realistic as well as cautious, the Lakers had warned before Wednesday night’s game that all their problems would not be solved in a night, even if it was in the sanctuary of the Forum.

Well, if a 128-123 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers wasn’t exactly vintage Lakers, it surely was close enough--at least for a half.

Some signs of renewel were evident, but so, too, were a few of the bad habits that developed during their just-concluded 6-game road losing streak. In the end, though, the Lakers managed to put away the 76ers and put on hold worries of their demise as they prevailed before a crowd of 17,505.

Relief was the dominant emotion among the Lakers. But Charles Barkley, who scored 36 points, was angry because he thought the Lakers could have been beaten.

“They’re not nearly as good as last year,” Barkley said. “They’re older, and the other teams are better.”

Among the positive factors to which the Lakers can cling were Magic Johnson’s seventh triple-double of the season but first since the slump, the resumption of James Worthy’s shooting touch and the contributions from the bench.

Johnson finished with 26 points, 18 assists and 10 rebounds, and Worthy had 20 of his 26 points in the first half. He made 9 of 14 shots. Byron Scott added 22 points, and Orlando Woolridge returned from his one-game benching to score 16 points.

On the down side, however, Charles Barkley once again had his way with the Lakers. And the 76ers’ tandem of reserve guards, David Wingate and Gerald Henderson, led a second-half rally that threatened the Lakers’ once-comfortble lead.

“Right now,” Johnson said, “we’re playing 2 or 2 1/2 quarters of good basketball. We got to move that up to 3 and then 4 quarters. We’ve gotten into bad habits that aren’t going to go away right away.

“It’s not going to change in a game. Not 2. Not 3. But maybe 10 games before we can get back to where we were before.”

It appeared as if the Lakers, still the National Basketball Assn.’s only undefeated team at home at 9-0, were headed for an early blowout. They scored 77 first-half points, a season high, with a strong fastbreak and inside game.

But an 18-point halftime lead quickly dissolved in the second half when the Lakers seemingly forgot what went right in the first 24 minutes and scored only 51 points.

“I’m glad we got the win, because we needed it,” Coach Pat Riley said. “But we let the game get away from us. We let the game work us. We didn’t work the game. That’s what is wrong with us now.”

The Lakers were clinging to a 126-121 lead with 8 seconds to play when Johnson missed 2 free throws. The 76ers got the rebound, and Henderson drove the length of the court for a layup to cut the lead to 126-123 with 5 seconds remaining.

However, Worthy sank 2 free throws after being fouled on the inbounds pass, and the clock ran out as the 76ers put up a desperation heave.

You couldn’t call the Lakers desperate for a victory, but they clearly needed a convincing display to dispel the notion of such critics as Barkley that they have lost it.

The first half was an indication of just what the Lakers can do.

Considering that the Lakers had totaled only 96 and 87 points in their previous 2 losses, the first half was a stark improvement. It was the Lakers’ highest scoring half of the season, eclipsing the 72-point half against Miami in November.

The change was noticeable right away, as their first 2 possessions of the game resulted in a sky hook from the baseline by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a fastbreak layup by A.C. Green.

An 18-10 run in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second quarter enabled the Lakers to open a 13-point lead. Most of the Laker points came inside, Mychal Thompson hitting 4 baskets from the low post and Worthy and Woolridge also scoring inside.

Near the end of the first half, the Lakers finally felt comfortable enough to take advantage of open perimeter shots, Scott, Johnson and Worthy sinking 3 straight in less than a minute as the Laker lead swelled to 18 points at halftime.

Just when it appeared that the Lakers had solved their problems--scoring inside and on the fastbreak and receiving a lift off the bench from Woolridge and Thompson--they let down in the second half.

A 15-4 Philadelphia run in the final 4:30 of the third quarter cut a Laker lead that had been 21 points to 98-88 entering the fourth quarter.

Once the Lakers lost that fast-half momentum, it seemed too elusive to regain in the fourth quarter. Wingate and Henderson combined to score 20 of Philadelphia’s 35 points in the fourth quarter.

The 76ers might have beaten the Lakers except for a 2-minute dry spell during which they failed to score on 5 of 7 possessions. But Henderson’s 3-point basket with 33 seconds left brought the 76ers within 4, and it was up to the Lakers to win it at the free-throw line,

“It seemed in the second half that we were just trying to protect the lead,” Woolridge said. “We were passive.”

Riley was a little more harsh in his assessment of the Lakers’ second-half collapse.

“The players can celebrate (the victory) all they want, but unless we play better defense we won’t win,” Riley said. “We could not guard anybody (in the second half). We couldn’t guard the floor.”

Laker Notes

Five Philadelphia 76er players, including Charles Barkley, filmed a segment of the television series, “thirtysomething,” Wednesday afternoon at the Forum. The show, set in Philadelphia, had the 76ers playing the Boston Celtics. During a break in filming, Barkley gave shooting tips to actor Ken Olin, one of the show’s central characters. He told Olin to shoot off his toes instead of his heels. Other 76ers featured were Maurice Cheeks, Mike Gminski, Ron Anderson and Gerald Henderson. Laker Coach Pat Riley was surprised about the filming. “They did that?” Riley said, laughing. “And we’re always being accused of being Hollywood’s team.” . . . Correction: Magic Johnson’s ejection Monday night at Phoenix was the second of his 10-season career, not his first.