Lakers See Good Sign for Road : NBA: Los Angeles gets a 100-90 victory over SuperSonics in preview of rugged style team will see on Eastern trip.

Consider the Lakers’ 100-90 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday night as a sparring session in preparation for the physical battles they will face when a four-game Eastern trip begins Friday.

The Lakers look as if they are ready for the next round.

They handled the full-court presses and half-court traps the SuperSonics periodically used. They endured being pounded underneath the basket. And though they might be counting their bruises this morning, their 27th victory in 35 games was worth the effort.

“This is exactly what we’re going to see in every city,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “It’s going to be tough. Every game with (Seattle) is a war. They’re aggressive. Bernie (Bickerstaff, SuperSonic coach) has them stunting and trapping. They disrupt everything.”

Actually, Seattle’s pressure was only the Western version of the physical style that is routine among Eastern teams.

Still, the Lakers had to be satisfied with the way they withstood the pressure. Although they made only 46.7% of their shots, the Lakers held a 41-32 rebounding advantage and made 29 of 36 free throws.

The strategy, as it always is when the Lakers play the SuperSonics, is not to back down. Riley wanted his players to counterattack when Seattle attacked, which meant driving to the basket instead of settling for jump shots.

Magic Johnson was the embodiment of this strategy. The Laker guard continually moved forward, drawing fouls often. Johnson, who had 22 points and nine assists, made 14 of 16 free throws. The SuperSonics attempted only 19 free throws.

Although the Lakers committed 17 turnovers and, at times, seemed flustered, they were effective inside.

James Worthy made nine of 14 shots and led the Lakers with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Mychal Thompson, playing his best game since being slowed by bursitis in his left heel, scored 18 points and had seven rebounds in 35 minutes. And, although A.C. Green scored eight points and had seven rebounds, his major contribution was in controlling Seattle’s Xavier McDaniel, who had 18 points.

The SuperSonics, playing without injured guard Dale Ellis, had not faced the Lakers since blowing a 29-point second-quarter lead and losing in Game 4 of last May’s Western Conference semifinal series.

Except for Ellis’ absence and a few personnel and strategy alterations, this was the same SuperSonic team the Lakers faced last spring.

The SuperSonics have not won in the Forum in the last 11 games, but they always seem to make the Lakers work for a victory.

“They always slow it down,” Johnson said of the SuperSonics. “It’s a different type of game whenever we play them. Definitely, it was good for us going into the road trip. We’ll definitely see (the same tactics).

“What we’ve got to do is act instead of react. We acted well sometimes tonight. But other times, we didn’t. We got a little lackadaisical. But the majority of the time, we handled it OK.”

Seattle, led by Sedale Threatt’s 26 points, pulled even with the Lakers at halftime, 50-50. The SuperSonics even led early in the third quarter, but then the SuperSonics’ offense bogged down under the Lakers’ defensive pressure, and the Lakers finally started to convert Seattle’s misses into baskets.

By the end of the third quarter, the Lakers had a 76-66 lead. They made 60% of their shots in the quarter and, from there, never let the lead drop below six points despite every trap and press Seattle tried.

“Every time we play Seattle, we know it’s going to be a physical game,” Green said. “They are a pesky team, always in your face.”

The SuperSonics, 2-13 on the road, are not a rebounding force. After all, they start Michael Cage, a true power forward, at center and bring Shawn Kemp and Olden Polynice off the bench. Plus, their scrambling defense often leaves them out of position for rebounds.

Still, Bickerstaff said his team did not rebound well enough.

“They shot only 42% in the first half, but they kept getting rebounds,” Bickerstaff said. “But we allowed them to clean up all that garbage. If we had cleaned up that, then you really got yourself a ballgame.”

But the Lakers, when pressed, showed they are versatile enough to change from basically a running and perimeter team to a grinding, rebound-oriented group.

An example of the Lakers’ aggressive rebounding occurred after only a few minutes had elapsed.

Thompson missed a jump shot, but Green grabbed the long rebound. Green then missed an inside shot and followed that by missing a jump shot. But Thompson rebounded the second miss underneath. Thompson then missed a short follow shot, but Byron Scott grabbed the rebound and converted from under the basket.

Five shots in one possession was reason enough for Bickerstaff to fault his team’s rebounding.

Laker Notes

The Lakers leave today on what some believe will be their most important trip of the season. Starting Friday night at Milwaukee, they play four teams--the Bucks, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers--with winning records. “If the eight-game trip (in December) was a marathon, this one is a quick, one-week trip that is the crossroads of our season,” Coach Pat Riley said. “We wanted to be 28-6 going into this trip--we talked about it before--but we aren’t unhappy about where we are. Now, this four-game trip will show where we are in relation to the other quality teams.”