Scott Does Great Job From Afar : And Abdul-Jabbar Is Tough Inside as Lakers Win

All but ignored by the Golden State Warriors’ trapping, double-teamming defense in the fourth quarter here Sunday night, Laker guard Byron Scott was perched alone just beyond the three-point line and waited.

Scott may have been out of the Warriors’ sight, but certainly not the Lakers’ minds. His teammates found a way to subdue the trap and find the unattended Scott, who proceeded to make his presence felt.

Reinforcing his unofficial title as the Lakers’ best outside shooter, Scott sank three three-point shots in a 1:58 span to break open a close game and help the Lakers secure a 126-115 victory over Golden State before 15,025 at the Coliseum Arena.

Scott’s long-distance bombing of the Warriors was as inconceivable as it was impressive. Usually, opponents do not allow the Laker guard to roam free, let alone permit him to take up residence in the corners.

“It’s a gambling defense, and we had Coop (Michael Cooper) to the top and myself in the corner,” Scott said. “So they had to leave one of us open.”

Wrong choice.

Scott’s hot streak began with 5:17 to play in the fourth quarter and the teams tied, 109-109. The Warriors had battled back from a nine-point deficit at the start of the quarter, effectively using their rotating half-court trap.

But the Lakers reclaimed the lead when, after whipping the ball around the perimeter and into the high post, Magic Johnson passed to Scott in the right corner.

Swish.

The Lakers took a 112-109 lead.

Then, after Warrior guard Winston Garland answered Scott’s three-point shot with a three-pointer of his own, the Lakers attacked the Warriors’ trap again. Again, the Lakers used rapid ball movement, Cooper eventually finding Scott alone in the left corner.

Swish.

The Lakers had a 115-112 lead.

After Garland’s second attempt to equal Scott’s shooting failed, and Johnson gathered the rebound, the Lakers went into the same alignment. But still, the Warriors left Scott unguarded, and Johnson found him open in the right corner.

Swish.

Scott’s third three-point field goal in just under two minutes gave the Lakers a 118-112 lead. Warrior Coach Don Nelson called a time out, perhaps to point out Scott’s number on the scorecard.

After all of Scott’s long-distance shooting, the Warriors could never recover. The closest they could pull to the Lakers in the final 4:19 was four points, even though Scott did not score again until a concession basket of the two-point variety with 3 seconds remaining.

“When the defense gave me the opportunity, I’ll sit out there and ponder the fact that I can shoot three-pointers,” Scott said. “I had time to get set, to think about it. But then, when I got the ball, those (three-point shots) were like, bang, bang, bang.

“We were moving the ball extremely well, and Magic and Cooper were getting it right to me. It was pretty much just set up and shoot it.”

Scott, who led all scorers with 32 points, made it all sound and seem so easy. But then, it has been that way the entire trip for the Lakers, who concluded a five-game road odyssey with a 4-1 record.

Having put aside all their previous road woes and pushing their game to a higher level, the Lakers returned to Los Angeles Sunday night with a 5 1/2-game lead over the second-place Phoenix Suns in the Pacific Division and are only two games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons for the league’s best record.

That is the Lakers’ new goal, to finish with the best record to ensure the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

If the Lakers’ continue to play as they did Sunday night and throughout the trip, which included victories over Atlanta, Miami, Charlotte and Golden State and a loss to Houston, they will make a serious challenge for league-wide dominance.

Scott, who survived a concussive fall early in the third quarter, made 12 of 18 shots, including four from three-point range to hurt the Warriors from outside.

Inside, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hurt the Warriors, who start an extremely small lineup but then counter with 7-foot-7 Manute Bol off the bench.

Playing perhaps his best overall game of the season, Abdul-Jabbar scored 19 points, making seven of 11 shots, and grabbed six of his 11 rebounds on the offensive end.

Abdul-Jabbar also was a factor in the fourth quarter, sinking a sky hook and tipping in a miss in the Lakers’ two possessions prior to Scott’s three-point heroics. Later in the quarter, when the Warriors pulled to within four points, Abdul-Jabbar fed Johnson on a give-and-go that resulted in an easy layup.

Before Scott took over, the Lakers’ equally divided the scoring. Johnson had 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, A.C. Green 17 points and nine assists and James Worthy 15 points.

Perhaps the thread connecting the Laker victories during the trip and a longer stretch in which they have won nine of the last 11 games has been defense.

Sunday, the Lakers forced golden State to shoot just 40.9% from the field, the Warriors’ second lowest percentage at home this season.

Chris Mullin, who had 27 points, and Terry Teagle, who had 22, did their damage, but the Lakers’ defense did not allow a Warriors’ basket in the final five minutes, following Garland’s three-point basket.

In the four previous games on the trip, the Lakers had held their opponents under 100 points. The Warriors, who entered ranking fourth in the NBA in scoring at 116 points a game, nearly reached their average. But the Lakers contained them from, as Coach Pat Riley said, “those 57-point-quarter explosions they can have.”

The Lakers’ credit defense and intensity for their improved play.

“We are playing consistently, and our defense is good every night,” Worthy said. “That’s the big thing. If we just concentrate on ourselves and not worry about what Cleveland or Phoenix is doing, we’ll be able to maybe get that (goal of the league’s best record).”

With their last trip of consequence out of the way, the Lakers now play only eight road games, none longer than one game.

To Riley’s thinking, it is a perfect set-up for a late-season run at the league’s best record and a way to streak into the playoffs.

“We achieved something we set out to do--win four of five games (on the trip),” Riley said. “We’ve opened up a gap in the West, and now we gotta take sights on something else.”

Laker Notes

Byron Scott endured a nasty fall while driving the lane with 7:57 to play in the third quarter. He was fouled by Terry Teagle and fell on his back. Scott was more angry at what he called a blatant “low-bridge” by Teagle than concerned about his health. “I told Jake (O’Donnell, one of the officials) that I’m getting sick and tired of being low-bridged. This has happened to me a lot, too much.” Scott and Teagle also exchanged words, but Scott would not divulge the contents of their conversation. “I don’t think Terry Teagle is a dirty player. But I was tired of getting low bridged.”