NBA PLAYOFFS : Lakers Try Damage Control on Kevin Johnson

The Lakers’ objective is not to stop Kevin Johnson. Merely controlling the Phoenix Suns’ elusive point guard may not even be possible, as evidenced Saturday by his 27 points and 18 assists in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

About the best the Lakers can hope for is to prevent an all-out assault in which Johnson’s game triggers the Suns’ other top scoring threats. That did not happen in Saturday, which is one reason the Lakers take a 1-0 lead into Game 2 Tuesday night in the Forum.

“I thought Byron (Scott) did an excellent job,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said after Saturday’s 127-119 victory. “Rick Pitino (New York Knicks’ coach) did a good job explaining how to play against Michael Jordan. He made the statement that you have to stop worrying about him because he’ll get his (points).

“With Kevin, we know he’s going to get them, but we want to make it tough for him to (make) layups. We couldn’t pay so much attention to him that we lose sight of Eddie (Johnson), (Jeff) Hornacek and Tom (Chambers). And you can’t forget guys like Mark West and (Tyrone) Corbin who live off him.”

So, despite Johnson’s impressive statistics in Game 1, which included a career high in assists, Riley said he was pleased with the job Scott and Michael Cooper did on the Suns’ point guard.

That opinion was shared by Kevin Johnson, recently named the league’s most improved player.

“They did an excellent job, as far as cutting off the penetration,” Johnson said. “They really help out with guys in the (lane).”

But Laker defenders did not help out on Johnson so much that they neglected the Suns’ other scorers.

Chambers, Phoenix’s leading scorer in the playoffs, was held to 15 points by James Worthy and, occasionally, A.C. Green. Chambers, who playoff average dropped from 26.1 to 24.9 after Game 1, made only five of 19 shots and was shut out in the fourth quarter.

Eddie Johnson, the prolific sixth man, sank only six of 16 shots and had 13 points. Worthy also spent some time, especially in the second half, guarding Johnson.

So, when the Suns’ other threats are not scoring, the Lakers can absorb a performance such as Kevin Johnson’s in Game 1 and still win.

“You can’t ignore (Kevin Johnson),” Worthy said. “But you can’t leave a guy like (Chambers) open to help out. We lapsed (on defense) a few times, but for the majority of the game, we were in there.”

This philosophy of trying to stop two of the opponents’ top three scoring threats was successfully used by the Lakers in the first two playoff series.

In the sweep of Portland, they allowed Clyde Drexler his points, but cut off forward Jerome Kersey and center Kevin Duckworth. And, in the sweep of Seattle, Xavier McDaniel and Derrick McKey were limited, while Dale Ellis eventually reached his scoring average.

“It’s going to come down to digging in on individual defense in this series,” Riley said. “I think we learned a lot about Phoenix (in Game 1). Phoenix is a running team that relies on the (fast) break. We can’t give them wide-open shots and we’ve got to try and make it tough for (Kevin Johnson).”

Laker expectations are not as high in the Scott-Kevin Johnson matchup as the other individual defensive assignments.

Scott, however, said he hopes to harness Johnson a little better Tuesday night. The strategy Scott and Cooper have adopted, they said, is to play Johnson tight and challenge him to drive rather than play a more passive role.

“Every now and then, you’re going to get beat, because he’s so quick,” Scott said. “But you have to play him close and try to push him down low. I had to lay off of him a little more in the second half because I got some fouls on me. But you want to play him tough.”

Scott and Cooper figure to draw more fouls guarding Johnson that way, but Riley said it is an unfortunate side effect to what he believes is good strategy.

“We don’t want to foul, of course, but I think we will get more fouls that way,” Riley said. “If you play (Johnson) soft, he has three options that can kill us--pull up for the jumper; drive and kick (pass to teammates); or drive.

“We want to take away at least one of those options. He’s going to get big numbers. We can deal with that. But I thought Byron played him the right way.”

Laker Notes

Injury update: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s right hip injury is not believed serious. He should be able to practice today. In fact, Coach Pat Riley said Abdul-Jabbar could have returned in the final four minutes of Saturday’s game if needed. . . . Reserve guard Tony Campbell suffered an injury to his left eye during his brief playing time Saturday, but the Lakers said he is probable for Tuesday. . . . Sun Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said before Game 1 that he probably would not use power forward Armon Gilliam, who apparently has fallen into disfavor. But Gilliam played 14 minutes and had 14 points. He made seven of nine shots. Asked about Gilliam afterward, Fitzsimmons curtly replied: “Armon was in there because it called for Armon to be in there, OK? Armon’s been out (of the lineup) because it called for him to be there.” . . . After scoring 20 points (making eight of 12 shots) through three quarters, Sun starting guard Jeff Hornacek was used sparingly in the fourth quarter. Fitzsimmons instead used a lineup that included Eddie Johnson and Dan Majerle. . . . James Worthy’s 32 points in Game 1 improved his playoff scoring average to 25.3 points per game. . . . Both teams canceled practice Sunday. The Suns returned to Phoenix after Saturday’s game and will return to Los Angeles Monday.