Magic Has Partial Tear of Hamstring : He May Be Sidelined for at Least a Week; Lakers Fall

It was a typically artistic Magic Johnson drive, a darting, twisting foray through the lane that resulted in a Laker basket late in the third quarter of Wednesday night’s game.

But that will turn out to be Johnson’s last drive for an undetermined period. For when he touched down, Johnson gave a painful grimace and grabbed his left leg in what later was diagnosed as a partially torn left hamstring.

The loss of Johnson, perhaps for at least a week, coincided with the Lakers’ 121-118 loss to the Golden State Warriors in a type of finish that has become Johnson’s specialty. But, without Johnson, who had 28 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, it was the Lakers who were finished.

Johnson suffered the hamstring tear while planting his left foot on the layup, but he said he felt it most while running to the other end of the court. The Lakers said he definitely will miss Sunday’s All-Star game in Houston and will be examined again Monday.

“I felt it happen when I took off down court,” Johnson said. “When I tried to run the court, it started getting painful.”

Laker trainer Gary Vitti said the degree of Johnson’s injury fell somewhere between moderate and severe.

“It’s a time-loss injury,” Vitti said. “How much time, I don’t know. It depends on how he reacts to treatment.”

Laker Coach Pat Riley spoke as if he already accepted the fact that Johnson will miss some games.

“It doesn’t look good,” Riley said of Johnson’s injury. “I’m not a doctor, but from what I understand, the injury will keep him out indefinitely.”

The Lakers do not play again until Tuesday night, when they play host to the Detroit Pistons in a replay of last season’s National Basketball Assn. championship series.

Will Johnson be ready for that game?

Neither Johnson nor Riley seemed optimistic.

“Getting hurt right now, it’s a bad time because we’ve got a big week coming up after the break. We’ve got Detroit on (Tuesday) and more than likely I’ll have to miss it, the way things look. After that, we’ve got Portland and then Boston.”

Added Riley: “Well, we’re optimistic it’s not going to be a real long time, but we don’t want to take chances with it. It’s a long season.

“We’ve got a lot of talent on our team. Earvin is obviously a crucial player, and we hope it’s a short period of time. But we’ll deal with it and move on.”

On this night, the Lakers (32-15) could not successfully deal with the Warriors (25-19), who gave the Lakers problems with or without Johnson in the lineup.

The Lakers trailed, 91-88, with 1:57 to play in the third quarter when Johnson left the game and was escorted off the court. But even without their leading scorer and floor leader, the Lakers immediately responded with a 9-0 run that gave them a 97-91 lead going into the fourth quarter.

For the next six minutes, the Lakers maintained a slim lead, eight points being their biggest advantage.

But then came the final minutes and the Lakers, without Johnson’s guidance, wilted under the Warriors’ pressure. The Lakers still held onto a 115-110 lead with 1:48 to play when Byron Scott, making his first appearance since Jan. 24, sank two free throws.

However, the Warriors rallied and converted turnovers by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Scott into points. Terry Teagle’s tip-in off Steve Alford’s miss gave the Warriors a 118-117 lead with 25 seconds to play.

Seven seconds later, Scott missed a jump shot under duress, and Chris Mullin was fouled after grabbing the rebound. Mullin sank both free throws, giving Golden State a 120-117 lead with 13 seconds to play.

Wanting to avoid a Laker three-point attempt, the Warriors immediately fouled Tony Campbell after he received the inbounds pass from Michael Cooper. Campbell made only one of the two free throws, cutting the margin to two points. And, after Rod Higgins sank one free throw with 10 seconds left, the Warriors had a 121-118 victory.

Teagle was the major reason the Warriors won at the Forum for the first time in 11 tries. He made 17 of his game-high 35 points in the third quarter. Mullin added 28 points and 11 assists, and guard Otis Smith contributed 18 points as a fill-in for injured Mitch Richmond, who has lower back strain.

The Lakers were led by James Worthy, who had 30 points.

The Lakers’ lead in the Pacific Division, three games over the Phoenix Suns, is their slimmest at All-Star break since the 1983-84 season.

Without Johnson in the All-Star game, Commissioner David Stern will choose a replacement, most likely today. There is a chance that Stern might choose Abdul-Jabbar, who was not voted in by Western Conference coaches in his 20th and final NBA season. But since Johnson’s loss leaves the West with only one point guard--Utah’s John Stockton--Stern’s selection might be Denver’s Lafayette Lever.

The Lakers, of course, are more concerned about how they will react without Johnson, for whatever period.

Things were really beginning to work for us recently,” Johnson said. “We had things working on offense and defense and our confidence level was starting to get where we wanted it. Now, this happens. Hopefully, we can just carry on, and I’ll be back soon.”

This is not the only time the Lakers have had to make do without Johnson. Last season, Johnson missed a total of 10 games late in the season with a groin strain, and the Lakers struggled to win.

This season, when Johnson seemingly has contributed even more to the Lakers’ success, the team figures to have some of the problems they did Wednesday.

“I’ll have to stop and think about (life without Johnson),” Riley said. “We’d have to go with David (Rivers, a rookie point guard) more, give him significant minutes. And we’d all have to do a little more. But we’ve got a lot of talent.”

But Laker players admit it will be a struggle.

“We’re definitely going to miss him,” said Scott, who scored 13 points in 27 minutes in his return from a urological disorder. “It means a lot to us when we lose a player of his caliber, not just his play but his leadership.”

Added Worthy: “We’ve got to go on and win without him. We learned our lesson last March (when Johnson was injured). We depend so much on him. We didn’t pick up the pace (last season, during his injury). We just waited for him to come back.”

The Warriors, meanwhile, go into their game tonight at Sacramento in fourth place in the Pacific Division, but only 5 1/2 games behind the Lakers. They termed their victory Wednesday a breakthrough of sorts.

“It’s nearly impossible to beat the Lakers here,” said Warrior Coach Don Nelson, referring to the Lakers’ 20-2 home record. “This is a great win for us. . . . We are just trying to get enough (wins) to get into the playoffs.”