NBA PLAYOFFS : Lakers Won’t Let Olajuwon Get Lonesome : Western Conference: Keeping the Rocket center under control is the first priority in first round.

Two, sometimes three, Lakers will probably orbit Akeem Olajuwon tonight whenever the Houston Rockets’ center gets the ball in the low post. They will lean on Olajuwon, pressure and harass him, and hope he does not find a way to dominate.

“We’ll have one guy--me--in back of him, one in front of him and one on the side,” Laker center Mychal Thompson said. “That leaves Akeem only one side open, and that’ll be the baseline. He’s too much for one guy to stop. If I had to guard him by myself, he might get a quintuple-double.”

Not surprisingly, Olajuwon is the object of the Lakers’ defensive obsession going into tonight’s first-round NBA playoff opener at the Forum.

When Olajuwon is controlled, the Rockets are easier to subdue. But when he is allowed free rein, the Rockets are more dangerous than the inconsistent team that struggled to get the final Western Conference playoff spot at 41-41.

The difficulty, of course, is keeping Olajuwon from dominating without ignoring the Rockets’ other offensive threats. The Lakers have spent all week in practice trying to achieve that defensive balance.

“We’re just going to try to contain him,” Magic Johnson said. “He’s going to get his points. You just can’t let him dominate the game. . . . “You have to try to get to him as quick as possible. He can beat a double-team. The guy’s unbelievable. He has such quick moves. We’re just going to have to get to him as quickly as possible and see what happens.”

Olajuwon was the only player to rank among the league leaders in four categories. He led in rebounding, with 14 a game, and in blocked shots, with 4.59. He finished ninth in scoring, with a 24.3 average, and eighth in steals with 2.1 a game.

In four games against the Lakers this season--the teams split the season series, each winning twice at home--Olajuwon has not been especially overpowering. He has averaged 18.5 points, made 40.9% of his shots, taken down 11 rebounds a game and averaged 4.5 fouls.

Olajuwon had his best game on March 6 in Houston, when he totaled 27 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots in a 17-point Rocket victory. Despite the Lakers’ best defensive efforts, Olajuwon dominated inside and involved his teammates from the perimeter.

He had his least productive game in their last meeting, April 15 at the Forum, when the Lakers’ double-team strategy was working and he scored just 12 points in an 11-point Laker victory. Despite 25 points each from forward Otis Thorpe and guard Vernon Maxwell, the Rockets were never close. Asked how he stopped Olajuwon in the last meeting, Thompson said he had done no such thing.

“Akeem is stronger and quicker than me,” Thompson said. “If I had his number . . . he’d change it on me.”

So, for the Lakers to continue their 18-0 streak in first-round games since the NBA switched to the best-of-five format in 1984, they say they have to concentrate on Olajuwon without losing sight of the other Rockets. Maxwell, who started at point guard the last 10 games of the regular season, averaged 18 points and five assists against the Lakers; Thorpe 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds.

“Any numbers (from Olajuwon) are all right as long as we win,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said. “I mean, he had 52 the other night against Denver, and they didn’t win. You can’t say we have to hold him to sub-20 because that’s being unrealistic. What we need to do is to have an impact on him when it means most during the course of the game.

“He’s going to get his points on offense, transition and rebounds. He’s just too great a player. But you’ve got to have an impact on his game when the game is close. That’s our objective.”

Don Chaney, the Rocket coach, said his objective is simple--to involve the four other players in the offense.

“We didn’t kick out (the ball) quick enough the last time we played them,” Chaney said. “We’re working on some things to get the floor open. We can’t beat anybody with one player. It has to be a team effort. We’ve got to knock down some jumpers and make good decisions with our passes.

“We have to make sure (the Lakers) pay the price for doubling him and getting away with it. When they double-team, they temporarily are left vulnerable. Players are left open. In that game (April 15), we failed to recognize the double-team. Our players did not get into the positions they should when that happens.”

Chaney said he has reviewed videotape of that game and found the Lakers were not playing illegal defense, which some other coaches have suggested when the Lakers use a trap or double-team.

“They are rotating fine,” Chaney said. “The Lakers did a good job. It’s up to the offense to expose an illegal defense by positioning themselves right. If you don’t try to expose the defense, you can’t yell and scream to the officials about that.”

The Lakers are not so sure how effective their double-team will be. At least, Randy Pfund, the Laker assistant coach in charge of defense, has his doubts.

“They’re used to being doubled,” Pfund said of the Rockets. “That’s what we’ll find out, whether it was our double-team or them. There isn’t anything different from our double-team, it was just what kind of effort we put into it.”

There will be times in this series when Thompson will have to fend for himself against Olajuwon. He all but shudders at the thought.

“One thing I got to do is hold my ground against Akeem when he wants to get his favorite spot in low post,” Thompson said. “Then, when he gets the ball, you double-team and you have to be extremely quick. Once he gets it, he has lightning moves, and he can beat any double-team if you’re there a step too slow. So, our feet have to be real fresh on the defensive end.

“I just hope that once Akeem gets rid of the ball, his guards don’t give it back to him. Let the guards be selfish. I won’t mind.”

With that in mind, Riley said the Lakers must play more physically than usual, especially against Maxwell and off-guard Eric (Sleepy) Floyd. “They are a power team and we have to embrace their power game with a power attitude,” Riley said. “We got to win in that paint (the foul lane), down there with Akeem and Otis and Larry Smith. They are three of the very best and strongest. Our defense has to be strong in the lane.”

As much as the Rockets rely on Olajuwon, they are at their best on the fast break.

In Houston’s two victories over the Lakers, the Rockets took advantage of poor Laker shooting to score transition baskets, Olajuwon included. They have become an even more potent running team since Maxwell was put in the starting lineup.

“They are a running team and a post-up team,” Riley said. “Otis has to be respected and concentrated on. He played very well against us in the four games. And their perimeter players--Maxwell, Floyd, Buck (Johnson, small forward) and Mitchell Wiggins--you can’t let their guards go crazy. We can’t allow their guards to keep breaking us down and bringing people out to help.”

Olajuwon also has the ability to change the Lakers’ offense.

“They have one guy who controls the middle by blocking shots, and that’s Akeem,” James Worthy said. “So, we have to utilize the open areas more.”

Just as the Lakers are concentrating on stopping Olajuwon, Chaney said the Rockets are equally concerned about controlling Johnson, who averaged 26.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists against the Rockets.

“You can’t stop Magic from scoring or from penetrating, but you try to limit him as much as you can,” Chaney said. “All five of their starters can beat you. But Magic is probably the guy we’ve really got to focus on. That’s a hard matchup.”

Considering that the Lakers had the NBA’s best record, 63-19, this series figures to be a difficult matchup in every respect for the Rockets.

But Chaney said he thinks the Rockets have a chance to beat the Lakers, just as they did in a 1980-81 miniseries and the 1985-86 Western Conference finals.

“I like looking at the playoffs as a totally different season,” Chaney said. “We don’t care what we did against the Lakers before, or the problems we had this season.”

Laker Notes

The Lakers reported that both Byron Scott and Michael Cooper practiced Thursday. Scott has a sprained left ankle and Cooper a hyper-extended right knee. Cooper said he will try to play tonight. “I did a light workout on it, and it feels good,” he said. “You never know until you get in an actual game how it’s going to be. But I’ll definitely play.”

The Lakers have played down reminders that Houston is the only Western Conference team to have eliminated them from the playoffs in the 1980s. The Rockets won a miniseries in 1980-81 and the conference finals in 1985-86. “That was the ‘80s, this is the ‘90s,” Magic Johnson said. Added James Worthy: “I stopped thinking about 1986 after the summer of ’86. This is a team that doesn’t dwell on things.”