Lakers Try to Apply Sunscreen : NBA playoffs: Phoenix has lost 21 consecutive games at the Forum, where Coach Fitzsimmons has dropped 37 in a row.

When the Phoenix Suns talk about blocking out, they are not necessarily referring to proper rebounding position. They also could mean putting past disappointments against the Lakers out of their minds.

Choosing to dwell only on the future, and not mentioning last spring’s playoff sweep and two prolonged Forum losing streaks, the Suns say they have the confidence, experience and talent to beat the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinal series. It apparently does not matter that they have not won at the Forum in 21 games, or that Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons has a personal 37-game Forum losing streak.

Fitzsimmons, whose losing streak has endured five teams and three decades, conveniently displayed a memory lapse while preparing for tonight’s series opener.

“I don’t even think of anything that’s happened in the past,” Fitzsimmons told the Phoenix Gazette Monday. “It’ll be a new game Tuesday night.

“It has nothing to do with the Forum. It has to do with the good players the Lakers have had. It’s just like Boston Garden with the Knicks. It had nothing to do with the building. There are no ghosts at the Forum, just great players.”

Even so, it might behoove the Suns to remember the particulars of last May’s Western Conference finals sweep, painful as the memories may be, so they don’t succumb to similar Laker tactics in this best-of-seven series:

--The Lakers won the four games by an average of 5.5 points. Byron Scott and Michael Cooper, leading a Laker half-court trapping defense that Fitzsimmons noisily branded a zone, so hounded Phoenix point guard Kevin Johnson that he complained of fatigue in Game 2. Prolific forward Tom Chambers shot 43%, sixth-man extraordinaire Eddie Johnson 32%.

--Sun defenders had no idea how to stop either James Worthy or Scott, who combined for a 49.8-point average in the series.

Pat Riley, the Laker coach, said he watched tapes of last spring’s series simply as a refresher course in what the Lakers did right in controlling the Suns, one of the NBA’s best running teams.

Although the Lakers say last season’s success has little bearing on this series, they figure to employ similar strategies.

The Lakers probably will employ a half-court trap against Kevin Johnson after he brings the ball to the front court, then prevent him by whatever means from driving to the basket.

They figure to pressure Chambers and Eddie Johnson on the perimeter.

And the Lakers will try to exploit the Suns’ defensive weaknesses by going inside, especially to Worthy, and outside to Scott and Magic Johnson.

It worked once, and the Suns are not that different from last season. The only significant changes are that Kurt Rambis has replaced Tyrone Corbin at power forward--more rebounding and inside strength; less offensive firepower--and that the other players have another season of experience.

“They are the same team, basically,” Riley said. “I watched last year’s series the other night to compare. Now, they do things better. Their chemistry is better. Their defense is better. From an offensive standpoint, their philosophy is 80% the same as last year.”

That being the case, the Lakers’ strategy against Kevin Johnson will be quite familiar. Using Scott, Cooper and Larry Drew, the Lakers will overplay Johnson, force him to pass instead of penetrate, then try to prevent him from getting the ball back.

Easier said than done, but the Lakers did it in last season’s series. Johnson averaged 23.3 points in the series, but he did not dominate and admitted to being tired late in the games.

“He’s going to get his points,” Riley said. “It’s virtually impossible to stop him one on one. You’ve got to devise your defense to contain him. Yeah, we may use the trap again. But, at the same time, (the Suns) are so defined in their spots that (Kevin Johnson) picks up the open player, like (Jeff) Hornecek or Eddie for jumpers.

“But it’s not going to come down to strategy as much as it’ll come down to effort and execution. Both teams are matched physically and talent-wise.”

Cooper, whose playing time increased to 26 minutes a game against the Suns in last season’s playoffs, said controlling Johnson is equal parts strategy and execution.

“You don’t want to give Kevin three things: the jump shot, the drive and kick and his own drive to the basket,” Cooper said. “What we’ll be trying to do is contain him as much as possible, because he is a vital link in their offense. If we can shut him down, we’ll be shutting 50 to 60% of their offense down.

“We’re going to keep somebody in his face the whole time. Hopefully, somewhere in the fourth quarter he’ll feel tired, and somewhere in the fourth quarter he’ll throw a pass away or miss a big shot.”

Scott, who will start guarding Johnson, said that playing physically is important. Johnson had a rough series against the Utah Jazz, missing most of one game with the flu and suffering a hip injury in Game 4. Johnson, however, was not slowed in Game 5 on Sunday, scoring 26 points, including the game-winning shot.

“With myself, Coop and Larry, we got 18 fouls to give against him,” Scott said. “Mychal Thompson and Vlade (Divac) can come in and block him once he gets by us. We’ve got people who can bump and grind him. So, in the fourth quarter, we want this guy to be exhausted. We’ve got to be physical against him for 48 minutes.”

Fitzsimmons says the Suns will be able to counter any strategy the Lakers try.

“They like to play it open, and we like to play it open,” he said. “We’ll adjust to whatever has to be done. That’s one of this team’s accomplishments, being able to adjust.”

The Lakers say they know that concentrating on Kevin Johnson to the exclusion of the Suns’ other threats is dangerous.

Chambers’ scoring dropped to 20 points a game in the Utah series, but he responded Sunday with 32 against Utah’s Karl Malone. In last spring’s playoffs, Worthy “held” Chambers to 25.8 points and 43% shooting. And, in four games this season, Chambers averaged 29.7 points against the Lakers, although he made only 41% of his shots.

Worthy averaged 25 points against Chambers in the playoffs and 29 points in four games this season. So, essentially, the matchup has been a draw.

“Malone’s a lot more physical than I am, and I don’t think I can present the same physical tactics against him,” Worthy said of Chambers. “I try to utilize my quickness, try to force him as far away from the basket as possible.

“I respect his game. He’s hit 60 (points) this year already. If he gets going, he can do it again. You’ve got to stay with Tom and take away his comfort shots. Tom creates his own shots, and everybody else feeds off of (Kevin), those certain specialists they have.”

Foremost among the Suns’ specialists is Eddie Johnson, who averaged 19 points in the playoff series against the Jazz. Johnson made 54.5% of his shots, including 12 of 19 three-point attempts.

“With a shooter like Eddie, you’ve got to stay in his face like makeup on the Laker Girls,” Thompson said.

He can joke because he will not have to guard Eddie Johnson. Worthy or Cooper will draw that assignment. Thompson, A.C. Green and Divac will not have such a rough time inside as they would have had the opponent been the Jazz.

But Mark West, the Suns’ center, averaged 9.6 points and 12 rebounds in the Utah series. And, the Lakers know quite well how strong a rebounder Rambis is and how good he is at low-post defense, but Riley and others said the Suns’ inside game was better with Corbin.

“Tyrone Corbin was a hell of a basketball player,” Riley said. “Kurt adds muscle and rebounding inside, but they don’t have the same transition offense and scoring from that position.”

Laker Notes

The Lakers will no longer be able to use the MGM Grand charter for flights because of scheduling conflicts. Instead, they will use the plane Kings’ owner Bruce McNall bought for his hockey team. . . . Instead of being upset that Yugoslav rookie Vlade Divac has cut into his playing time, Laker center Mychal Thompson used the development for more comedy material. “That stiff,” Thompson said of Divac. “How dare he play in front of me? You give a Communist an inch and he takes over the world.”