Lakers Get Victory No. 2,000

You don’t want to say Friday night’s Warriors-Lakers matchup lacked something. Let’s just say its highlight went unnoticed.

It happened when Kasha, the bear cub from the Moscow Circus who performed between quarters, got loose and ran across the street, with his handlers running after him screaming in Russian. It isn’t known if the cub hoped to defect, but he was recaptured in a nearby parking lot.

Meanwhile, back in the Forum, Golden State showed up with its 5-24 road record and its 118-point defensive average and did what it was supposed to.

The Lakers beat the Warriors, 131-115, behind Magic Johnson, who needed 29 minutes for his eighth triple-double of the season and 39th of his career. He had 33 points, 16 assists and 13 rebounds.

“Well, you know Magic is Magic,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “I always have a tendency to talk about other players, but it’s understood what he does for this club. He’s a great player and he wants to get even greater. Very rarely does he have a bad game, and, when he does, he’s better than most.”

The victory was the Lakers 2,000th, dating from the birth of the franchise in the George Mikan era in 1948. Los Angeles and Minneapolis must feel a mutual sense of pride today.

The Lakers are the second NBA team to hit 2,000 victories.

See if you can guess the first.

“Two thousand victories,” said Riley, “and we’re still behind the damn Celtics.”

The Lakers have the Pistons a half-game back in the race for the league’s best record. They have just concluded a one-game home stand, following a two-game trip, preceding a five-gamer. Orlando Woolridge, a star in recent weeks, rolled his left ankle in a third-quarter fall and was taken to Centinela Hospital Medical Center for precautionary X-rays.

Byron Scott is still limping on his hamstring strain, the same one he pulled last spring during the NBA finals. He missed his third game Friday, and Riley, who had said he would probably play against the Warriors, says he’s now scheduled to return Sunday in Atlanta.

“The doctor wanted to give him one more day,” Riley said. “We pretty much knew--we were at home. We could get through one more without him.”

Down two men from his regular rotation, Riley wound up giving early season pickup Jay Vincent his first meaningful minutes. Vincent went 13 minutes, shot four for five and scored his Laker high, 10 points.

“Jay has shown tremendous patience,” Riley said. “He knew when he came here we had a set rotation. It’s just a very difficult situation for a veteran to handle. He came in tonight and filled the bill for us.”

The Lakers came out cold, shooting 39.7% in the first quarter. They might have disappeared altogether if a familiar tall figure from the backcourt hadn’t taken over.

Johnson was halfway to a triple-double--eight points, five rebounds and five assists--by the end of the first quarter. The Warriors grabbed a 33-27 lead, but Magic kept the Lakers close.

In the second quarter, they took over, led by Vlade Divac.

Divac stumbled through misses on his first two shots, then put together one of those incredible strings of his:

--A rolling hook over Jim Peterson and a free throw for a three-point play;

--A defensive rebound, after which he dribbled the ball up the court in a three-on-two fast break, and hit Michael Cooper perfectly for the layup.

--A hook over Manute Bol, whom he had put away with a baseline fake.

When Johnson threw another hook over Bol a moment later, Warrior Coach Don Nelson sensed his 7-foot-7 shot-blocking weapon had been neutralized. With the situation deteriorating at warp speed, he tried a smaller lineup: 6-7 Tom Tolbert and four players who are essentially guards--Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Sarunas Marciulionis.

The Lakers, with a lineup now taller by four inches per man, started taking everything to the hoop and finished a 16-4 run that gave them a 60-46 lead. They were never seriously challenged again.

Laker Notes

Byron Scott dressed before the game and not just for the team picture they took. “I intended to play,” he said. “But they had other intentions. Dr. (Robert) Kerlan said no.” . . . Scott says he’s getting electric stimulation, ultra-sound and several other treatments he isn’t sure how to characterize. “It’s about four machines,” he says. “They hook me up to one and then they put me on another.” . . . Warrior rookie Tim Hardaway, who wasn’t supposed to be able to shoot from outside, went seven for 14, and looks like he will beat the rap against him. Mitch Richmond, who has already arrived, went five for 17 . . . Magic Johnson had 17 triple-doubles last season.