Lakers Halt Production in Overtime, Fall to Pistons : NBA: L.A. is shut out in the extra period and Detroit wins, 108-97, at the Forum.

Proving as contentious as expected, Friday night’s showdown between the Lakers and Detroit Pistons entered overtime with the teams tied at 97, after Joe Dumars’ shot at the buzzer fell off the rim.

But when overtime beckoned, the Pistons were revived and the Lakers simply tuckered out. Detroit, which lost a chance to win it in regulation when Dumars’ shot at the buzzer spinned out, shut out the Lakers in the five-minute extra period to take a 108-97 victory before a sellout Forum crowd of 17,505.

The Pistons, who trailed most of the game, dominated in overtime. The Pistons (10-5) outscored the Lakers (11-3), 11-0.

The Lakers, who saw guard Byron Scott foul out and Magic Johnson in foul trouble, blew a fourth-quarter lead and were lucky to get to overtime.

With :25.5 to play and the Lakers trailing, 97-95, the teams traded 20-second timeouts and the Lakers called a full timeout themselves to set up a potential game-tying basket.

Johnson drove through the lane, then found James Worthy temporarily open on the right wing. Worthy moved inside, but his shot was partially blocked by Bill Laimbeer. The Lakers again had the ball with :13.1 seconds to play.

This time, the ball wound up in A.C. Green’s hands in three-point range. He missed the shot, but Isiah Thomas fouled him with :7.6 seconds to play. Green, who had made 71.8% of his free-throw attempts this season, sank both shots to tie it, 97-97.

That prompted a Piston timeout, so Coach Chuck Daly could set up a final shot to avoid overtime. Aguirre could not find a teammate open, so he called another timeout.

The Pistons went to Dumars, who drove the lane. He pulled up for a running jumper that rolled around the rin and fell out at the buzzer.

The Laker lead was seven points and holding steady with 4:23 to play in the third quarter when Johnson picked up his fourth foul and was forced to sit out the remainder of the quarter and the first 1:12 of the fourth quarter.

Although the Lakers’ inside game weakened when Johnson left, they had a 76-70 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Johnson came back for what turned out to be a cameo appearance. Less than a minute later, Johnson was whistled for his fifth foul and was back out again.

Then, 22 seconds after Johnson returned late in the fourth quarter and the Lakers now clinging to the lead, Byron Scott was called for his sixth foul with 4:18 to play. Laimbeer’s two free throws narrowed the Laker lead to 90-87.

And the Pistons kept coming. Two free throws by Mark Aguirre, on Green’s fifth foul, cut the lead to 95-93, with 2:16 remaining. Worthy appeared to have got those points back, but he was called for stepping on the baseline on a spin move to the basket.

The Pistons finally went ahead when, after a timeout, Dumars sank a 15-foot jump shot to tie it, 95-95. The Lakers quickly got the ball to Johnson, but it eventually wound up in Green’s hands.

Green’s shot was blocked by Laimbeer. Dumars straddled the out of bounds line to save the ball, and Aguirre sank a jump shot to give Detroit a 97-95 lead--their first since the first quarter--with :25.5 seconds to play.

It didn’t take long for the intensity of the rivalry to flare. Less than four minutes after the opening tipoff, a skirmish erupted under the Lakers’ basket that almost escalated into a fight.

Johnson had made a layup and been fouled by Laimbeer when the Pistons’ center traded shoves with Green. Thomas then came from behind Green and landed an open-handed blow to the back of Green’s neck. Green retaliated with a hard shove, but the three participants were separated before further damage could be done.

The result was technical fouls on Green and Thomas and a personal foul on Laimbeer. Once order was restored Johnson sank the free throw to complete the three-point play and give the Lakers a 12-6 lead.

The Lakers opened that to 26-15 as their defense, which featured Johnson guarding Laimbeer and Worthy on Dumars, limited the Pistons to 36.8% shooting from the field.

The Lakers, meanwhile, shot 50% in the first quarter and opened a 10-point lead with 4:40 to play after two free throws by Worthy. They extended it to 11 by the end of the quarter when Worthy sank two more free throws.

Both the Pistons and Lakers failed to score on their first four possessions of the second quarter. Johnson then re-entered the game and got the Lakers going again.

Johnson sank two free throws for a 28-15 lead and, after James Edwards countered by making a jump shot, Johnson took a pass from Larry Drew and sank a baseline hook shot.

Thomas and Dumars made back-to-back baskets.

Johnson and Michael Cooper then teamed up to give the Lakers a 33-21 lead with 7:28 to play. Cooper streaked in on the right wing and dunked after taking Johnson’s lob pass.

Edwards, again, brought back the Pistons. His three-point play on the next possession cut the Laker lead to nine points, but Johnson backed Dennis Rodman into the basket for another field goal.

The Lakers faltered late in the second quarter, as Rodman took control of the offensive boards. That enabled Detroit to cut the margin to 49-42 entering the third quarter.

Laker Notes

Forward Orlando Woolridge, on the injured list after arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 17 to remove bone fragments from his right knee, said Friday he has been cleared to participate in a full practice with the team. Woolridge might return to action as soon as early next week.

Reserve center Mark McNamara did not suit up for Friday’s game so that doctors could monitor his heart with a mobile device. McNamara passed out briefly in his Sacramento hotel room on Wednesday, but said he felt well enough to play in Thursday night’s victory over the Kings. McNamara said he asked to visit a Laker internist on Friday to be fitted with what he called a mobile EKG unit, about the size of a small radio. McNamara said he will wear the device for 24 hours and, pending results, will be cleared to play Sunday night against the New York Knicks. The Lakers, apparently, were more concerned about McNamara passing out than McNamara, who was slow to recover from a virus recently. “I had been feeling a little light-headed that day, and when I got up to answer the door when the maid knocked, I opened it and, I guess, fell backward right in front of the maid,” McNamara said. “I fell straight back. I was lucky I didn’t hit my head on anything. I do have a big scratch on my arm. I woke up about 10 seconds after I passed out. I didn’t want to go to the doctor, because I knew they’d do something like this to me. But Gary (Vitti, the Laker trainer) made me.”

Reserve forward Mel McCants, who suffered a sprained right ankle a week ago, apparently recovered more rapidly than expected. McCants worked out with the team Friday and dressed for the game.