Suns’ Open Attack Next Up for Lakers

Past performance strongly suggests that the Lakers are quite pleased that the Phoenix Suns, not the Utah Jazz, will be their opponent when the Western Conference semifinal series opens Tuesday night at the Forum.

The Lakers, idle since eliminating Houston on Thursday, won three of four games against the Suns this season. They swept Phoenix in four games in last spring’s conference finals. And, the Suns have not won at the Forum since April 15, 1984--21 consecutive losses in Inglewood, including the playoffs. Cotton Fitzsimmons, the Suns’ coach, has a personal 37-game Forum losing streak.

But, after the semifinal matchup was set Sunday when Phoenix beat the Jazz, 104-102, in Utah, the Lakers still expressed no preference and said all the right things not to offend.

In fact, they said they did not even watch the second half of the Suns’ last-second victory. Coach Pat Riley said the Lakers watched the first half in a corner of Loyola Marymount’s gymnasium, then started practice.

“But I did sneak a couple peeks at the monitor,” Riley said.

Laker players remained poker-faced about playing Phoenix, a running team that lacks the inside strength of the Jazz.

“I’m glad they’re there,” guard Byron Scott said. “But I would’ve been glad if Utah had been there, too. It doesn’t make a difference. It’ll be more of a wide-open game. But in this time of the season, it doesn’t (matter) who you play. They are all tough.”

The Lakers defeated the Suns by four points at the Forum in November, by four points again at home in December and by four points at Phoenix in April. Their only loss to the Suns came by three points in overtime on Jan. 9 at Phoenix.

Conversely, the Lakers split four games with Utah. Included was one of their four home losses this season.

Riley denied the Lakers, coming off a physical series against Akeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets, preferred the Suns’ finesse over a Jazz attack featuring Karl Malone and Mark Eaton.

“I’m not going to say that,” Riley said. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to say who they’d rather play. . . . I’d rather play an expansion team.

“We came to the point in the fourth game against Houston where we said ‘the hell with it.’ Stop worrying about who we’re playing, how big they are, how strong. We do have to make strategic adjustments, because of (Sun point guard) Kevin Johnson. But we just have to keep playing.

“Both of our games are wide-open--theirs more than ours. But we play both games (physical or finesse) well. You got to give the Suns credit. They went into Salt Lake and won both games there.”

The Lakers limited Phoenix to a 105.8-point average in the four games. They outrebounded the Suns, 47.3-44.8, in the season series.

But Riley said that what Phoenix lacks in a low-post game, they compensate for with fast breaks.

“They are a tough team,” Riley said. “We won three out of four games against them. We match up well with them, and we don’t have to worry about a concerted post game. But we have to be ready for their quickness. Get your feet down, get to their shooters.”