Sampson Gets Rude Reception : Lakers: Sacramento center gives way inside as Divac scores 25 points, leading Los Angeles to 111-91 victory.

What a tranquil, pleasant day Monday turned out to be for the Lakers. They needed only a minimal effort to dispose of the Sacramento Kings, 111-91, before 16,844 at the Forum Monday afternoon. Then they had the night to themselves.

How easy was it? Some samples:

--Vlade Divac, the Lakers’ rookie center from Yugoslavia, ran circles around a gimpy Ralph Sampson with 8 minutes 14 seconds left in the second quarter.

Divac, who had 25 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots playing mostly against Sampson, started his move on the baseline. He drove to the left of Sampson, reversed his dribble and swung around to the right before finally spinning again to swish a hook shot.

“Ralph Sampson is not strong like Akeem (Olajuwon) or (Patrick) Ewing,” Divac said. “Against him, easy play is go inside.”

Sampson, in his second game after more than a month of rehabilitating his knees, scored two points, making one of eight shots.

“I’m going to keep playing him,” said Dick Motta, the Kings’ new coach. “Right now, he’s not helping. He bogs things down. But let’s see what he can do.”

--Starting the second quarter 13 points behind, the Kings gave the ball to Sampson in the low post. He held the ball in one hand away from his body. Laker forward Michael Cooper, as if plucking an apple from a tree, took it.

Embarrassed, Sampson blocked Cooper’s shot on the other end.

--With only seconds remaining in the first half, the Lakers had a chance for a final shot. But Orlando Woolridge fumbled a deflected pass, then chased it almost the width of the court, picked it up and shot an off-balance, one-hander that, of course, went in for a 60-41 halftime lead.

“Oh, man,” Woolridge said. “I was just trying to catch the thing. It was almost like a layup for me, after I got it.”

A 21-foot layup.

--Divac struck again midway through the fourth quarter. He materialized seemingly from nowhere and blocked Henry Turner’s layup. Instead of rejoining the action, the irrepressible Divac slapped hands with a young fan who he thought he had hit on his descent out of bounds.

--The Lakers’ dormant fast break showed signs of life, especially on one fourth-quarter possession. Magic Johnson grabbed a rebound and threw a baseball pass to James Worthy underneath the basket. Worthy caught the ball on the run, but flipped it across court to Cooper for a layup.

--And, finally, enlivening the final minutes was a meeting between Laker reserve Jay Vincent and Motta. They had been at odds a few seasons ago when Vincent played for Motta in Dallas. With 3:07 to play Monday, however, Vincent shook Motta’s hand.

“You appreciate him more when you’re not around him,” Vincent said.

Then, he clarified that.

“You think back on some of your other coaches, and, on reflection, he was a good coach. We had some run-ins, but that’s over. I just wanted to wish him luck.”

Motta could use some.

The Kings are 1-5 since he replaced Jerry Reynolds. Using Motta’s motion offense, the Kings have mostly gotten motion sickness. They have averaged only 90 points in the last four games and Monday they made 41.2% of their shots, only 23% in the first quarter.

Motta also is the latest coach to be saddled with Sampson and his $1.8-million contract. In two games since coming off the injured list, Sampson has made two of 15 shots and grabbed eight rebounds in 39 minutes.

“That’s not like the Ralph I’m accustomed to,” Worthy said.

Laker Coach Pat Riley said: “It has not been the type of performance you expect from Ralph. But you’ve got to go with him like this, 20 to 30 minutes a game over a long stretch to see if he can get it back. The jury is still out on Ralph Sampson.”

Not so, apparently, on Divac. He reached his season high in points Monday, exploiting Sampson on inside moves as well as making jump shots. He made 10 of 15 shots in 28 minutes, the longest he has played since logging 31 minutes while starting for Mychal Thompson against the Kings on Dec. 26.

“I’ve had better games,” Divac said. “The offense was good. The defense not that good. Coach Riley and (Bill) Bertka help me every day. I play better defense, and now I feel free with offense.”

Riley said the coaching staff has been challenging Divac to improve his overall game.

“We were on Vlade just today about that,” Riley said. “We’re trying to get him to utilize his quickness to beat guys. He knows what it’s all about. It’s up to him. He is already really good. If he wants to be great, he has to work. I didn’t expect this (talent) from him this year. But now that he has it, I want more.”

Laker Notes

The Lakers are 26-8; the Kings 8-26. . . . A.C. Green had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers. Magic Johnson added 17 points and 10 assists. Mychal Thompson, who said his sore left heel had improved, had a dozen rebounds, his season high. . . . James Worthy scored 14 points, his average in the last five games, contrasting with his season average of 21.2. The emergence of Vlade Divac and Orlando Woolridge as scorers off the bench, plus frequent double-teaming, have contributed to Worthy’s brief scoring slide. Neither Worthy nor Coach Pat Riley seems concerned.

“It’s just the way the team is now--balanced,” Worthy said. “I just can’t force the action if (teams) are double-teaming me. When the offense is not coming my way, it’ll go the other way and we’ll score. We’re winning, and right now, that’s all that matters. My game is not just scoring.”

Riley said: “I’m all for balance at this point in the season.”

Worthy on Divac’s improvement: “He has the potential to be one of the best centers in this league. The more you see of him, the more you realize he’s not just an average seven-footer. He’s a different style of seven-footer. He plays almost like a small forward. He’s versatile. We haven’t seen a center like that since Dan Issel.” . . . Laker guard Byron Scott scored only eight points Monday. It was the fifth time in the last 12 games Scott has failed to reach double figures. . . . The Lakers will play the Seattle SuperSonics Wednesday night at the Forum.