Riley Wins an Argument and Lakers Win the Game

It may seem like quibbling now, what with the Lakers’ latest blowout victory, a 134-116 drubbing of the New Jersey Nets Sunday night at the Forum, safely secured and probably quickly forgotten.

But at the time, with the Lakers needing every point they could acquire to repel the surprisingly competitive Nets, there was considerable haggling over an obscure NBA rule involving free-throw shooting.

Here’s the deal: Midway through the second quarter, Net guard John Bagley was fouled on a drive, spraining his left ankle in the process. Bagley was forced to leave the game, and the rules stipulate that opposing team select a designated free-throw shooter.

Laker Coach Pat Riley said he wanted to select little-used Charles Shackleford to shoot the free throws. But referee Ed Middleton told Riley he had to select a player already in the game, so former Laker Mike McGee was chosen. He made one-of-two shots.

But, just before the start of the second half, it was announced to the crowd of 17,505 that the score was not 61-60, Lakers. The referees thumbed through the rule book and determined that Riley indeed could have selected any Net player to shoot the free throws.

So, McGee’s free throws were nullified, and Riley chose to bring Shackleford to the line to shoot just before the start of the third quarter. Shackleford almost made the Lakers pay for the move. He made the first shot but missed the second, keeping the score 61-60, Lakers.

“Every now and then, I remembered something I read in the rule book 20 years ago,” Riley said. “That’s why I selected a guy off the bench. I wanted Shackleford in there.

“But then, to compound the problem, Eddie told me after the half that I was right. I said, ‘Just let it go.’ He said that he couldn’t because the Nets could have protested the game. It was just one of those bizarre turn of events.”

That’s about the way things went for the struggling Nets on this night. Playing beyond probably even their own expectations, the Nets pushed the Lakers as best they could for three quarters, before careening back to reality in the fourth quarter that quickly became a Laker blowout.

Leading by only one point entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers put together a 15-4 run in the first 6 1/2 minutes to put away the Nets. New Jersey, which had shot better than 60% until then, made only one field goal in the first nine minutes of the quarter.

But, for three quarters, the Nets could have been mistaken for that team on the other side of the Hudson River--the Knicks.

The Nets, who beat the Lakers in overtime at New Jersey in December shot 60.4% in the first half, out-rebounded the Lakers through three quarters and generally made the Lakers work hard for this one.

Rookie forward Chris Morris scored 21 of his 27 points and guard Dennis Hopson 19 of his 21 through three quarters, each hurting the Lakers from both the perimeter and underneath.

Then came the fourth quarter, and a reality check for both teams.

New Jersey’s shooting went into a deep freeze, and the Lakers (32-14) seized upon the missed shots to jump-start a sputtering fast break.

Hence, another Laker blowout, running their home record to 20-1 and keeping them three games in front of the Seattle SuperSonics in the Pacific Division.

The box score will show the usual Laker performances.

Magic Johnson had 27 points and 13 assists, James Worthy 22 points and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar adding 18 points and, somewhat surprisingly, nine rebounds.

Abdul-Jabbar’s first basket enabled him to surpass the 38,000-point mark.

The Lakers also received 20 points from former Net Orlando Woolridge and 17 from reserve swingman Tony Campbell.

But what is not immediately apparent is that the Lakers needed all of those productive performances to overcome the Nets.

“They really played well,” said Johnson on the Nets, whose record fell to 17-28. “They didn’t play like their record. They shot the ball extremely well.

“And, the thing is, they really made some tough shots. What happened was, a lot of times we had good defense, but (Morris and Hopson) shot over us and made it, anyway. But we knew that, eventually, they just can’t keep doing that.”

Added Riley: “It was contagious, the more outside shots they hit. Hopson was hitting running one-handers, (Lester) Conner (16 points) was dropping in three-pointers.”

But when the Nets finally could not find the net, it was a severe drought. And the Lakers, despite being pressed hard through three quarters, still had enough left in reverse to pounce on the opportunities.

The Nets made only seven of 23 shots in the fourth quarter--many coming in the ragged latter stages--while the Lakers made 11 of 18 in that span.

“We had to pick up the ‘D’,” Johnson said. “I think our defense caused a lot of those misses, and they had a lot of long rebounds that (enabled) us to get running.”

“I’m proud of the way the team played tonight,” said Morris, held to four points in the fourth quarter. “The Lakers are a great team over four quarters. We made some big mistakes in the final quarter and, as usual, Magic made the key plays.”

But Johnson was not the only Laker to excel when it counted.

After the Lakers fell behind by seven points early in the third quarter, Worthy went to work. He 11 of his 12 points that quarter after the Nets had taken that lead.

Campbell scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers broke open the game. Perhaps the key basket during the Lakers’ 15-4 run came with 8:41 to play.

Johnson missed a three-point attempt, but Campbell rebounded the ball underneath the basket, flipped in a one-handed shot and was fouled on the play. His subsequent free throw gave the Lakers a 108-98 lead, and the Nets were not heard from again.

Laker Notes

Laker guard Byron Scott attended his first Laker game, in street clothes, since being sidelined with urinary bleeding 12 days ago. Scott is scheduled to practice with the team today and Tuesday in hopes of being cleared to play in Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers, however, might choose to hold Scott out of Wednesday night’s game, the last before the All-Star break. That would give him six additional days of rest.

Scott said he feels fine and that symptoms have not returned after working out on his own the past week. Scott said the illness has been tough on him, physically and emotionally. “It wasn’t just something I was dealing with for two or three days,” Scott said. “It was more than a week of not feeling well and having blood coming out. That was the scary part, seeing that and then not knowing what was causing it. Emotionally, it was tough to handle, but I also felt bad. But I thought I said something early enough to catch it. The first time I really noticed the blood, I told my doctor. If I had let it go longer, it would’ve been a lot more serious, really bad.”

NBA CAREER SCORING LEADERS

Player Points *-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,017 Wilt Chamberlain 31,419 Elvin Hayes 27,313 Oscar Robertson 26,710 John Havlicek 26,395 Jerry West 25,192 Elgin Baylor 23,149 *-Moses Malone 22,597 *-Alex English 22,545 *-Adrian Dantley 22,323

The top 10 career scorers in NBA history. *--still active: