Lakers Win Rough One at Phoenix

As remembrances of a hard-earned victory Friday night, the Lakers carried with them an inordinate number of battle scars. They nursed them without complaining, however, perhaps because a loss to the Phoenix Suns would have hurt considerably more.

Mychal Thompson limped around the locker room with an ice bag attached to his hyperextended right knee. James Worthy had a nasty lump forming on his forehead, Orlando Woolridge a gash under his right eye and Michael Cooper untold bruises. Even Mark McNamara, who played all of four minutes, had an inflamed thumb.

Laker casualties may have been heavy, but those were comparatively minor hurts to the punishment they doled out against Phoenix. The Lakers, playing one of their most aggressive and physically challenging games this season, administered a 103-99 beating to the Suns before 14,487 fans at the Veterans Coliseum.

Whatever pain the Lakers had to endure Friday night seemed worth the price. The Lakers’ rare road victory at Phoenix improved their record to 56-17 and moved them three games ahead of the Detroit Pistons--losers to Milwaukee--in the loss column for the NBA’s best record.

“It turned out to be a street fight,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “It was one of those big, big games we dug out. It’s big with Detroit losing. But this thing is not over. We’ve got five more games on the road.”

True, but the Lakers like their chances of holding a three-game lead over the Pistons with nine to play. The incentive is home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Judging by their comments, the Lakers aren’t yet ready to declare that they have the best record in hand.

“I won’t be comfortable until we’re 10 games up with nine to play,” Thompson said.

“Are you crazy?” Cooper responded. “This isn’t over. We definitely like our position right now, but we’ve still got tough games ahead.”

Few figure to be tougher than Friday’s battle. Although neither team is known as a banger or physically imposing, such as Detroit and Philadelphia, the Suns and Lakers pounded on each other.

But the Lakers, despite making only 43% from the field and 61% from the free-throw line, held off repeated Sun comebacks thanks to accurate three-point shooting, a renewed emphasis on defense in the second half and a 45-35 rebounding advantage.

In beating the Suns for the third time in four games--and the first time on the road in the regular season in two years--the Lakers received a couple of injury scares.

With 7:28 left in hte fourth quarter, Thompson came down awkwardly after grabbing a rebound. His leg buckled and Thompson collapsed to the floor. He left the court limping but later returned to action.

“The best thing about it was that I didn’t hear anything pop,” Thompson said of his hyperextended right knee. “I knew what it was right away. You tend to overreact when you come down and your knee isn’t there anymore. But I knew right away how bad it was.”

About three minutes later, Worthy grabbed his forehead and was doubled over after colliding with Tom Chambers. Worthy was not seriously hurt, but the Lakers were concerned that his jump shot might be affected.

But Worthy, along with Byron Scott and others, came through with big plays when the Lakers needed them most.

Although they made only 22 of 36 free throws, the Lakers made four important ones in the final 10 seconds to thwart Phoenix’s last comeback hope. Scott sank two free throws with 10 seconds left for a four-point Laker lead, then after Kevin Johnson’s layup with five seconds left, Worthy sank two free throws with four seconds to go to secure the victory.

“This was a very, very tough game,” said Woolridge, sporting a cut under his right eye. “We just had to really get our defense going to stop them.”

The Lakers led by only one point at halftime, but opened as much as a 13-point third-quarter lead. They did it by forcing Phoenix into 11 turnovers in the quarter. Although the Suns cut the margin to one point with 3:02 left in the game, the Lakers converted in their half-court offense and made most of their free throws.

As he has consistently done against the Suns this season, Worthy led the Lakers with 29 points. He made 10 of 20 shots, including an important jump shot with 2:19 left and four free throws after that. Those last points came after Worthy and Chambers had collided.

Magic Johnson added 22 points and 10 assists, and Scott added 14 points. Cooper scored seven points and played exceptional defense against Sun point guard Kevin Johnson, who had 14 of his 24 points on free throws. Cooper’s defense partially made up for his missing two free throws with 15 seconds left and the Lakers clinging to a four-point lead.

In addition to Kevin Johnson’s production, the Suns received 25 points from Chambers, 20 from Mark West and 14 from Eddie Johnson. Eddie Johnson sank two three-point shots in the second half, but missed a three-point attempt with 19 seconds left that could have pulled the Suns to within one point.

“We executed and played defense pretty well down the stretch,” Magic Johnson said. “Anytime we get together, it’s going to be a physical, tough game. Both teams know each other so well, nobody gives an inch. So, you’ve got to win it.”