Drew Gets Points on the Point : Lakers: in 107-98 victory over the Mavericks, new guard shows that L.A. no longer is at a loss when Johnson isn’t on the court.

Hardly anyone was safe when Larry Drew was on the court Sunday night. Not the unsuspecting Laker Girl that Drew crashed into after sinking a three-point basket. Certainly not Dallas Maverick guard Brad Davis, whom the Laker guard stripped of the basketball after regaining his feet.

The only thing that remained safe during Drew’s time was the lead, something the Lakers could not say about their backup point guard in season’s past. Playing 22 minutes, Drew scored a season-high 15 points to help the Lakers to a routine 107-98 victory over the Mavericks before 16,927 at the Forum.

What Wes Matthews and David Rivers could not do, namely keep the Lakers competitive and productive when Magic Johnson rests, Drew has done so far in the young season.

In the second quarter Sunday, when Johnson went to the bench, Drew scored seven points and kept the Lakers’ offense functioning near full-throttle. During that spell, he also came up with the play of an otherwise mundane night.

After sinking a three-point shot and flying into a pile of Spandex that was the Laker Girls, he came from behind Davis and stole the ball. That led to another basket. The Laker lead, a mere one point before that exchange, became a six point lead with 5:55 to play.

Essentially, Dallas was not heard from again, though Drew was.

When Johnson, who tied James Worthy for scoring honors with 22 points, moved to forward in the fourth quarter, Drew again took over at point guard and sank four jump shots to help make sure the Mavericks stayed down.

The Lakers, it seemed, probably could have handled the slumping Mavericks without exhibiting their depth. Just as the Lakers beat Dallas by eight points on the road in the season opener, they were never seriously threatened Sunday night.

Once thought as the Lakers’ main challenge in the Western Conference, Dallas is 1-4. The Lakers lead the Pacific Division with a 5-1 record.

Despite 18 points from Adrian Dantley, 15 from Rolando Blackman and 14 from Sam Perkins, the Mavericks could not take advantage of their height advantage. Actually, it proved a disadvantage, because the Lakers’ quickness took them out of the game except for a brief stretch in the first quarter.

All was going well for the Lakers in the first half until they received an early scare. During a timeout five minutes into the game, Johnson walked off the floor and into the lockerroom with what later was diagnosed as a strained neck.

Johnson had the Lakers running past the taller Mavericks. Right before the injury, Johnson received a pass in the corner from Byron Scott. Johnson then passed to Worthy in the low post. Worthy, in turn, shoveled a pass to Mychal Thompson streaking through the lane for a layup and a 17-8 lead.

The Lakers had that nine-point lead at the time of Johnson’s departure. Three minutes 40 seconds later, the Mavericks completed a 10-2 surge and taken a 20-19 lead.

Back came Johnson, who apparently was not seriously hurt after receiving a blow to the back of the head by an unknown Maverick. By the end of the quarter, Dallas still led, 24-23, but the Lakers soon would regain control.

The Lakers took the lead for the remainder of the half with 6:38 remaining when A.C. Green sank two free throws for a 35-34 lead. The Lakers made only four of 11 shots before that point in the second quarter, but they soon heated up.

They put together an 18-11 run in the final six minutes for a 56-45 halftime lead.

The final first-half surge began with two exceptional plays by Larry Drew. With 6:10 left, Drew sank a three-point shot from the corner but fell out of bounds and into an unsuspecting Laker girl. No time to apologize, Drew quickly rose and stole the ball from Maverick guard Brad Davis, from behind. Vlade Divac finished off the play by sinking a short jump shot for a 40-34 Laker lead.

Wisely, Maverick Coach John MacLeod called another timeout, maybe to give Davis advice to look back because someone might be gaining on him.

In any event, the Lakers built a 10-point lead with 1:30 to play when Scott sank a jump shot.

The half ended on a surprising note when Worthy, who led all first-half scorers with 15 points, sank his first three-point basket of the season.

Laker Notes

Forward Orlando Woolridge is eligible to come off the injured list, but there is no timetable for his return after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 17 to remove bone fragments from his right knee. “We haven’t had any word yet,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “I’d have to say it’ll still be a couple weeks. We aren’t going to rush him. But when we do get him back, he’ll be a big addition for us.” . . . James Worthy, who slightly sprained his right ankle Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors, played 44 minutes Friday against Charlotte but rested the ankle on Saturday. “It’s better,” Worthy said before Sunday night’s game. “The day off helped. But I’m getting used to the soreness--all through my body.”

Partly because of the Lakers’ 44% shooting from the field, Riley is starting to implement more offensive patterns from last season and less of what he calls free-flowing. “We’ve only been using about 25% of the things that were in our offense last year,” Riley said. “What I wanted to do was keep it really simple, but what I’m not satisfied with right now is that we’re getting random shot selection. There’s nothing wrong with guys having the green light, but they are getting shots at random. We used to have a very controled offense. The design was to get the ball to specific guys for high percentage shots. Playing in the flow right now, we are allowing the ball to be shot by whoever has the best shot . . . but we do have to get back to some very specific plays we’ve run for a long time. In the next 15 games, we’ll be back to 25% more controled plays.”

The Mavericks probably were happy to get back on the road Sunday. They played the Clippers in Los Angeles on Wednesday, earning their only victory, then returned to Dallas and lost to Portland, 99-91, on Friday. The Mavericks are 0-2 at home and hearing it from disgruntled Reunion Arena fans. “Of all the teams I’ve been on,” forward Adrian Dantley said, “I’ve never heard the fans go off like that.” That’s saying something, since Dantley has played on six teams in his 14-year career. . . . The Lakers are off today and Tuesday, then play the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night at the Forum.