With Magic Ill, Lakers Are Shaky : Pro basketball: Guard is bedridden with flu as club commits 20 turnovers and loses to San Antonio, 86-84.

Magic Johnson, bedridden because of flu, was not strong enough even to leave his Westside home Monday night.

So, in a weakened condition themselves, the Lakers tried to beat the San Antonio Spurs without their best ballhandler, leading scorer and last-second-shot specialist.

It could not be done, at least not this time. The Lakers, who committed 20 turnovers, could not convert on two possessions in the last five seconds and lost to the Spurs, 86-84, before a Forum crowd of 17,505.

Without Johnson, the Lakers might still be the Team of the 80s, as in 80 points on offense. It was the Lakers’ second lowest output of the season. Credit the Spurs’ defense and the cold-and-flu season.

“We were out of sync without Earvin,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said.

“He is vital. But the effort was great on both sides. They gave us a lot of chances to win it. We gave them one too many chances.”

Never was Johnson’s absence felt more than in the final 20 seconds of this sloppily played game between Western Conference powers. Given a chance to maintain their home-court dominance even in Johnson’s absence, the Lakers (31-10) could not make the crucial baskets, despite James Worthy’s 32-point effort.

As a result, it was only the Lakers’ second loss in 21 home games.

After the Spurs’ Terry Cummings missed a jump shot that could have broken the 84-84 tie, the Lakers had the ball with about 15 seconds to play.

Larry Drew, Johnson’s replacement at point guard, broke free on a fast break. But his layup was blocked from behind by Willie Anderson.

“I thought (Anderson) got a little piece of the ball and a little piece of me,” Drew said.

“No call was made, so you got to live with it. There was no second-guessing.”

No, that would come a possession or two later.

After Anderson’s block, the Spurs launched their own fast break, Anderson drawing a foul by Orlando Woolridge with 5.9 seconds to play. Anderson made only one of the two free throws, giving the Lakers the ball with five seconds to play.

It is in such situations that Johnson’s steadying influence is needed most. But Riley could not diagram a play running through Johnson’s bedroom, so the Lakers tried to get the ball to either Worthy or Byron Scott.

With Michael Cooper inbounding, Scott circled the key and ran toward Cooper. The pass deflected off Scott’s hands and into the Spurs’ possession.

“I think I threw it too hard,” said Cooper, fighting flu himself.

“After the fact, I guess I should’ve called time out again. I usually throw that pass to Magic, and he can handle it. But I threw it too hard to Byron.”

Again, Anderson was fouled, this time with 1.1 seconds left. And again, Anderson missed one of two free throws for an 86-84 lead.

With another chance to win or tie, the Lakers ran basically the same half-court play. But this time, Cooper found Worthy open slightly outside the three-point line. It is unclear whether Worthy was behind the line when he released the shot, but his turnaround jumper bounced off the back of the rim.

San Antonio, one of three teams chasing the Lakers in the Western Conference, had survived the scare and won at the Forum for the first time since January of 1984, ending a 14-game losing streak at the Forum.

Not that either team would consider Monday’s game a thing of beauty.

The Spurs made only 37.2% of their shots and had 15 turnovers. David Robinson, who made only six of 17 shots, finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Cummings had 20 points.

Ordinarily, such cold shooting might have led to a third consecutive road loss for San Antonio (28-13). But, without Johnson directing the Laker offense, this was not an ordinary game.

“Magic does a great job organizing things, getting the ball down court and initiating the break,” Woolridge said.

“When he’s not in there, our offense struggles. Sometimes, in that situation, people get self-willed and try to do too much.”

Drew might have been one of those players.

“Coming into that situation, I know the guys aren’t as comfortable with the (offensive) flow as they are if Magic’s there. Collectively, we kind of had to play through that.”

With or without Johnson, the Lakers will try to get back in sync tonight against the Clippers at the Sports Arena.

Will Johnson play?

“I don’t know,” Riley said. “He’s real sick. We learned something from tonight. Whether he’s there or not, we have a tough game and have to play well.”

Laker Notes

Monday night’s game was the first regular-season game Magic Johnson has missed since last Feb. 20, when he missed five games because of a torn left hamstring. The Lakers, in his absence, were 3-2 in those games. This season, Johnson played only the first three minutes of the Lakers’ home opener before he and Phoenix guard Kevin Johnson were ejected because of a shoving incident.

Guard Byron Scott said his bruised left knee, which caused him to sit out most of Sunday’s practice after a collision with center Mark McNamara, has vastly improved. “I’m all right, but I put I dent in Mark’s leg,” Scott said.

Milwaukee Buck Coach Del Harris, who harshly criticized the inexperienced officiating crew after Friday night’s loss to the Lakers, told a Milwaukee Journal reporter that he plans to contact Laker Coach Pat Riley and apologize. Harris said he did not mean to detract from the Lakers’ victory by blaming it on the referees. Rod Thorn, vice president of operations for the NBA, said he is reviewing Harris’ comments.

* DAVID ROBINSON: San Antonio lost 61 games last season, but the first-year center is quickly turning the Spurs into a Goliath. C2