Lakers Show How Better Haves Live : Scott, Worthy Lead Win Over Bird-Less Boston

Even if you tried, you could not miss Magic Johnson Sunday in the Forum. All afternoon, the injured Laker guard would spring off the bench and almost become as animated as Pat Riley, whose job it usually is to pace and pose, coach and cajole.

But, more important, the Lakers did not really miss Johnson, certainly not to the extent that the Boston Celtics have missed injured forward Larry Bird all these months.

A 119-110 Laker victory over the Celtics, before a sellout crowd of 17,505 and a national television audience, clearly proved that point. With Byron Scott scoring a season-high 35 points and James Worthy adding 28 points and 10 rebounds, the Lakers carried on with standard efficiency and turned the Celtics into just another sub-.500 Forum casualty.

No matter who is missing, though, this is never just another game. Which is why the Lakers felt compelled to show that they are less affected without their leader and spiritual adviser, at least on a short-term basis, than the Celtics are without theirs.

“Today was a sign of how far James and Byron have come,” said Johnson, who missed his third consecutive game because of a partially torn left hamstring. “Everybody today saw the talent of James and Byron and the rest of our team. They know we’re a team.”

The Celtics, meanwhile, are a team in trouble. Sunday’s loss was their fourth consecutive on the road since the All-Star break, and the club is not even sure whether Bird will be back March 1, as originally expected.

“We aren’t just waiting for Larry’s return,” Celtic Coach Jimmy Rodgers said. “We are trying to survive and become a better team.”

Sunday was a case of survival of the fittest, and the Lakers certainly seemed well-equipped to handle the loss of Johnson.

Worthy, alternating between small forward and big guard in Johnson’s absence, continued his offensive surge of recent games. He made 11 of 20 shots, many inside against the often intimidating Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

And Scott, who has long since shed his personal demons when playing the Celtics, had his finest game since returning more than a week ago from his urological disorder. Scott made 14-of-23 shots, including two three-point attempts, to better his previous season-high of 33 set against Denver in November.

“James, the last seven or eight games, has really turned it up and carried us,” Riley said. “He is capable of doing that. And Byron today was really assertive. When he took his shots, you knew they were going in. You had that confidence in him. That’s the first time it’s been there since his illness.”

Scott and Worthy not only combined for more than half of the Lakers’ points, they delivered baskets at the times the Lakers most needed them.

In the final minute of the third quarter, when the Celtics had slashed the deficit to less than double figures, Scott took a pass from Orlando Woolridge and scored underneath. Then, with only seconds remaining in the quarter, Scott drove through the lane and made a twisting layup with 1 second left, giving the Lakers a 91-80 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Celtics mounted another threat, this time cutting the Laker lead to 111-104 after a 10-2 run. But Scott and Worthy combined to score the Lakers’ last eight points.

After a timeout, Worthy made a difficult turnaround jump shot from the baseline with only 4 seconds remaining on the shot clock. The Celtics continued to pressure the Lakers, but Worthy and Scott would not let the lead slip. Scott made a jump shot with 1:50 to play, Worthy scored over McHale and Scott added two free throws to clinch it.

“That responsibility falls on both of us now that Magic is out,” Worthy said. “We knew we had to do something. Instead of playing for the lead, we had to go to the basket and make something happen. I think Byron and I showed that.”

When the Lakers lost to the Celtics by 14 points in December at Boston--with Johnson, by the way--Worthy made only three-of-14 shots and Scott four of 13.

Were those cold-shooting performances on the minds of Worthy and Scott?

Said Scott: “It’s just nice to have it going shooting. This doesn’t feel more gratifying because of what happened last time. And it doesn’t matter that it was the Celtics.”

Said Worthy: “You never try to duplicate the same game, against the same team. I never dwell on those type of games, and I don’t worry about it happening again.”

Just as they were not the only culprits in the December loss, Worthy and Scott were not the only producers for the Lakers this time, only the most obvious.

Michael Cooper, starting at point guard in Johnson’s place, had 11 points, a season-high 13 assists and played 34 minutes without a turnover. Woolridge and Mychal Thompson, the big men off the bench, combined for 15 points and eight rebounds. And A.C. Green had his standard outing--12 points and 11 rebounds.

Boston, meanwhile, relied on its starting front court almost exclusively. McHale responded with 26 points and 12 rebounds, center Robert Parish 20 points and 15 rebounds and Reggie Lewis 25 points. All three played more than 40 minutes each.

The Lakers’ depth, which also included 10 points in 14 minutes from rookie David Rivers, simply wore out the Celtics. The Lakers had a 48-45 rebounding advantage and outshot the Celtics, 51.6% to 46.9%.

The Laker defense was greatly responsible for the Celtics’ erratic shooting. Riley’s plan was to sag in the middle against McHale and Parish and force outside shots.

“You take a risk whenever you swarm the ball in the post. We gambled on that,” Riley said. “But we definitely didn’t want the ball to go into Parish and McHale.”

Said Lewis: “They wouldn’t allow us to get the ball inside. When we did, they’d double down on Robert and Kevin. We had the shots. They just couldn’t hit them.”

Scott, for the first time since returning from his illness, wasn’t missing. He said he could feel his timing return Thursday night at Portland, and he said he had a premonition that Sunday could be a day to break out.

“I knew it was going to take time, but I looked at this as a game when I’d be all the way back,” Scott said. “Coop and I talked about it up in Portland. I was feeling pretty good in the second half of that game, so I looked at the calendar for this one.

“Coming back from the illness, I knew it would take three or four games. This was the first game I felt like I was back.”

His timing was good. Without Johnson, who probably will miss at least two more games, the offensive responsibility has been delegated to players who usually play supporting roles.

“Right now, we are not in a process where we’re waiting for Buck (Johnson) to come back,” Scott said. “We are going to try to keep winning without him, because who knows when he might return. But I think we’ll be all right. We were today.”

The Celtics are not in as good shape. Presuming that Bird returns near March 1, Riley thinks that the Celtics will be a factor, after all.

“I would never count out the Boston Celtics,” Riley said. “I don’t know what the situation is with Larry, but I would hate to be the top seed in the East and have Larry Bird back for a month when the playoffs start.”

Laker Notes

Laker owner Jerry Buss said he is close to making an offer to purchase the Dallas Cowboys. National Football League rules dictate that owners cannot own and operate a team in another sport, so Buss said he is considering putting the team in a trust fund for his children and signing over control of the Lakers to General Manager Jerry West. “The way it looks now, I’ll be making (the bid) March 5,” Buss said. “They won’t rule on (cross-ownership) until Dallas makes an application for the sale. I suspect there won’t be any problem with it. I assume they’ll let me put the team in a trust fund for my kids. I don’t think you’d see any change (in the Lakers). Jerry West would run the team, which is what he does now.”

Add Buss: It has been determined that Buss will have the final say as to when Magic Johnson returns from his partially torn left hamstring--not Johnson, not Coach Pat Riley nor the Laker doctors. Johnson continued to run on his own Sunday and said he is improving. “It’s coming slow, but it’s doing better,” Johnson said. . . . The Lakers are 61-41 overall in games that Johnson has missed because of injury in his career. . . . This was the first time since Bird and Johnson joined the NBA that neither has played in a Laker-Celtic game. The last time the teams played without Larry Bird and Johnson was March 18, 1979. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 25 rebounds. It certainly was long ago. Sunday, Abdul-Jabbar scored eight points and had five rebounds in 27 minutes.