NBA Championship Series Notes : Even a Massacre Can Be Inspiring

The sun came up Wednesday in transplanted Lakerland after all, no sure thing the night before, bringing along a silver lining.

There are precedents for openers such as the Lakers’ 109-97 loss to Detroit in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, a game the Pistons led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter. There is that moment in Laker history, the Memorial Day Massacre.

On May 27, 1985, the Celtics opened the NBA Finals by winning at Boston, 148-114. That remains the all-time low point for a Laker defense in the playoffs.

Piston Coach Chuck Daly knows the rest of the story. The Lakers came back to win the series,4-2.

“I made them aware of it,” Daly said of his players, who have every reason to be feeling confident heading into Game 2 tonight. “Also, last year we won Game 1 (at the Forum), and they came back.”

Daly wasted little time in using the Memorial Day Massacre as a history lesson for the Pistons, reminding them of the game--and the end result--in the locker room immediately after Game 1. They took good notes.

“He said we should keep an even keel,” Detroit forward Dennis Rodman said. “He said we should remember what happened a few years ago.”

Said center Bill Laimbeer: “We’re very aware of that. We’re very aware that our bubble can burst with Game 2.”

The Lakers, however, dismiss most comparisons to 1985, even if they’re pushing for the same result.

“I hate to use examples from different years,” Michael Cooper said. “But let’s hope it turns out the same way.”

A kiss is still a kiss, Part II: Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas exchanged pregame pecks on the cheek in Game 1, as the longtime friends did last season. But now, with Mark Aguirre having joined Thomas on the Pistons, through a trade with Dallas Feb. 15, it’s beginning to look like a love-in before each game, the Laker guard kissing his two close friends shortly before tipoff.

“It’s their business,” Laimbeer said. “But if I had a very good friend, I’d probably just shake his hand.”

Detroit’s Rick Mahorn prefers the same lips-off approach.

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “I might catch something.”

Is there anyone he would like to kiss anyway?

“Yeah,” Mahorn said, “the Laker Girls.”

They may consider themselves warned.

The 1983-84 Boston Celtics were the only team to have won an NBA title after being swept by their championship-round opponent, the Lakers, during the regular season. The Lakers lost both regular-season games to the Pistons this year.

Byron Scott was reduced to the role of bystander again at practice Wednesday because of the torn left hamstring that will keep him out of Game 2 and probably the rest of the series. Tuesday night, he sat on the bench in street clothes as the Lakers struggled to replace his outside scoring.

“It was probably one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do, sit there and watch my teammates play without me and see some situations where I could help out,” Scott said.

“I’ve never had that type of emptiness in me, ever since I started playing this game.”

Assault and battery are in the eye of the beholder: All this time people thought the Pistons played rough, true to their image as the Bad Boys of basketball. Turns out, they’re more like a bad rash.

“We don’t play dirty basketball,” Laimbeer said with a straight face. “Other teams just have an adverse reaction to our physical play.”

Add Good Boys: Mahorn and Laker A.C. Green were called for offsetting technical fouls, which bring with them small fines, for throwing elbows during the first quarter of Game 1. At least, that’s what the officials called.

“I don’t throw elbows,” Mahorn said in a comment that is sure to bring a few chuckles around the league. “I never have. I just play basketball.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t remember what happened, other than I had $100 taken out of my pocket.”

Times staff writers Chris Baker and Sam McManis contributed to this story.