Got to Hand It to Magic: What a Shot!

In the stat sheet it was a three-point field goal, but in Laker lore it will go down as a genuine Magic miracle.

With time running out in the first quarter, Sun guard Kevin Johnson hounded Magic Johnson in the backcourt. Trapped finally in the midcourt corner at the sideline, Magic threw a fall-away, tape-measure, half-hook that swished 55 feet away.

“You can’t give Magic that shot,” said Phoenix columnist Joe Gilmartin.

As Magic’s momentum carried him past the courtside seats, he spotted a hand sticking out and shook it as he went by.

The hand belonged to Karl Eller, a local businessman who was a part owner of the Suns when they first came to town, and who owns all those Circle K mini markets and who was probably putting up his hand to ward off the evil spirits that had infiltrated the Suns’ gym.

“I just saw a hand and I shook it,” Magic said after presiding over the Lakers’ 110-107 victory over the Suns.

Hey, isn’t that what America is all about, that kind of neighborly spirit?

Maybe after Sunday’s game here, Magic will stand at the exit to this Sadhouse on McDowell Street and shake everyone’s hand, wish ‘em all better luck next year.

The fat lady isn’t singing yet, but she’s spraying her tonsils and adjusting the horns.

The Suns are down 3-0 in these Western Conference finals, and if they can’t hold a three-point lead with 1:20 left in the game on their own court, they aren’t going to sweep the next four games, friends.

I realize I’m sticking my neck out here, but no NBA team has ever come back from 0-3 to win a playoff series. My researchers are still checking the NHL and Little League files for 0-3 comebacks, but suffice it to say that a Sun resurgence now would be one step above a miracle.

Besides, it’s time for a little perspective. We’re looking at an amazing ballclub here--10 straight playoff wins, 15 straight wins overall.

Last year at this time the Lakers were gasping for air, desperately battling to overcome the Utah Jazz and not looking too graceful or youthful in the process.

Clearly this was a dynasty on the decline.

What happened? How did everyone else get worse and the Lakers get better?

If anyone west of the Mississippi had a shot at slowing down the Lakers, it was the Suns, before Friday night’s game.

In three regular-season games here this season, the Lakers looked like a pretty good YMCA pickup team.

But you can’t beat the Lakers if you can’t get off a shot. In the fourth quarter, the Lakers clamped down on the Suns with that defense that Mychal Thompson described before the game thusly:

“Just mayhem is what it is. You overplay everybody. You find a man and stand on his sneakers.”

Sun Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons calls it a zone defense, but zones are illegal in the NBA, so Cotton obviously was carried away by the emotion of the moment, watching his club drop out of contention in this series.

Zone or mayhem, the Lakers play defense as well as any team in the game. The marvelous Kevin Johnson scored 22 points, but only seven in the second half. Get the lad an oxygen bottle.

“The last minute and a half was all defense,” Magic said.

The Suns scored 32 points in the fourth quarter, but they worked for every shot and in the last 2 1/2 minutes, every Sun shot seemed of the desperation variety.

And the Lakers were almost eerie with their clutch play. James Worthy, who will not go to the Hall of Fame on his jump shot, slammed home five jumpers in the fourth quarter in six attempts.

Worthy was like a Circle K market--he was open all night, and he also came in hand on the boards, snagging 12 rebounds. This might be the Lakers’ heir to Jerry West’s “Mr. Clutch” nickname.

Thompson blocked a Dan Majerle jump shot with 22 seconds left, was fouled and hit both free throws for a three-point Laker lead, and Thompson is the last man in the building the Lakers wanted at the free-throw line then. He has a soft touch for a body builder, a horrendous touch for a basketball player, but he swished both shots.

And Michael Cooper, hitting 36% from normal range in this series and 17% from behind the three-point line, went four for four in home run attempts.

Magic Johnson still can’t quite get unleashed for one of his monster games, but he plodded along with 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and that semi-skyheave at the end of the first quarter.

The teams will play again Sunday, as a formality. What the heck, the tickets have been sold. Besides, as Orlando Woolridge said, “There are some things that we still didn’t do that we wanted to.”

Like what? Visit the Grand Canyon?

Listen: The fat lady is singing the scales, and we’re in the presence of greatness. As Karl (“With a K”) Eller would say, you have to give the Lakers a hand.