Lakers Take Loss to Pistons Out on the Knicks, 115-104

Post-Piston Depression did not hit the Lakers Sunday night. Instead of wallowing in the frustration of Friday night’s overtime collapse, the Lakers took it out on the New York Knicks.

The Lakers repelled repeated Knick runs for a 115-104 victory before 17,505 at the Forum.

Had the Lakers not rebounded Sunday night--and rebounding was only one of the reasons for the victory--the specter of rare back-to-back home losses would have really put the Lakers in a funk.

That did not happen, though, thanks in part to the Lakers’ 47-39 rebounding edge, their double-teaming defensive pressure on Patrick Ewing and strong play from four reserves.

En route to regaining the NBA’s best record at 12-3, and taking the Pacific Division lead back from the Portland Trail Blazers, the Lakers withstood two serious second-half rallies by the Knicks (10-6), who ended a trip that included four games in five nights.

In addition to Magic Johnson’s 20 points, which included a three-point basket and long jump shot late in the game that buried the Knicks, and James Worthy’s 22, the Lakers received lifts from backup point guard Larry Drew in the fourth quarter, reserve centers Vlade Divac and Mark McNamara and Michael Cooper’s steady play.

The Lakers certainly did not stop Ewing, who had two 40-point outbursts earlier in the week. Ewing finished with a game-high 29 points, 25 coming in the second half when he made nine of 15 shots.

Foul trouble put Ewing on the bench for all but eight minutes in the first half, but, in the second half, he did not dominate the game, as the Lakers had feared.

Ewing and a third-quarter lull notwithstanding, the Lakers were satisfied with the way they bounced back from Friday’s loss to Detroit.

Coach Pat Riley was so worried about possible lingering effects that he gave the Lakers the day off on Saturday and did not breath a word about that loss before Sunday’s game.

“It bothered me,” Riley said of the Detroit game. “Not that we lost, but how we lost. I know it bothered the players. I didn’t want to make any references to it, just go on to New York.”

Laker players said the Pistons were the farthest things from their minds on Sunday. But the day after, Saturday, was another matter.

“That ruined our day off,” Mychal Thompson said. “We spent that day brooding about it. But if we would’ve had the Pistons in the back of our minds, the Knicks would have walked all over us.”

That did not happen, mostly because many of the Lakers’ failings in the Piston loss did not arise again.

Unlike the Detroit loss, the Laker bench came through Sunday. Divac scored 11 first-half points when Thompson got in foul trouble. McNamara scored five points in the second half when both Thompson and Divac got in foul trouble. Cooper played most of the fourth quarter and was a steadying influence.

And after the Knicks pulled to 89-88 with 9:33 to play, Drew scored six points in a 13-5 Laker run that put the game away.

“They (reserves) took the shots they had tonight,” Johnson said. “The other night, they just looked for James and me for the shots after the ball went to the post. Our bench played very well, and they are going to have to.”

Riley said: “We got a nice lift off our bench. Mark came in and played well. Larry moved the ball in the fourth quarter. And had Vlade not gotten into foul trouble, he would have put up some big numbers.”

But Riley was not totally happy with the Laker effort.

A major concern was the Lakers’ 5:17 third-quarter scoring drought, not as severe as Friday night’s 8:02 lapse against the Pistons.

This time, the Lakers’ second-half slump began after they had taken an 11-point lead with 9:39 to play in the third quarter.

The Knicks were able to take a 68-64 lead, helped by eight Laker turnovers in 12 possessions. The Lakers also missed all 12 of their shots during the slump.

But the Lakers recovered to regain the lead, 82-79, heading into the fourth quarter. It took all the Lakers’ effort, however. Johnson finally ended the scoring drought with a layup and accompanying free throw. That was followed by a dunk by A.C. Green off Thompson’s miss, then a Byron Scott layup off a Knick miss.

The teams traded leads once more late in the third quarter, before baskets by McNamara and Johnson in the last 30 seconds.

Ewing had yet to hit stride during that third-quarter Knicks run, although he had 12 points in the quarter. He then scored the Knicks’ first nine points in 1:35 of the fourth quarter, pulling New York to 89-88.

That would be as close as the Knicks would get, despite Ewing. He had 17 of the Knicks’ 25 fourth-quarter points, but the Lakers spread around their 33 points in the period.

“It’s a good thing (Ewing) got in foul trouble early,” Thompson said. “We couldn’t control him in the second half. He was unstoppable.”

The secret to the Lakers’ success Sunday night?

“We didn’t have to show anything tonight,” Johnson said. “We’re not in the playoffs yet. We had to put Detroit in the back of our minds, as we did. If not, the Knicks would’ve beaten us.”

Laker Notes

Forward Orlando Woolridge, on the injured list after arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 17 to remove bone fragments from his right knee, said Sunday he probably will be ready to return to action this week. . . . Reserve center Mark McNamara, who had been suffering from dizziness recently and passed out in his hotel room in Sacramento on Wednesday, said Sunday that results of a 24-hour monitoring of his heart showed no abnormality. “They think it was just related to the flu I had,” McNamara said. “But they told me to watch for any dizziness. I felt fine today.” McNamara explained his fainting spell on Wednesday: “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. 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.”