Worthy’s 36 Turn Tide for Lakers

Sliced and diced by the NBA’s best and worst, the Sacramento (or is it Sacrificial?) Kings have few peers when it comes to assessing loss after mind-numbing loss. Owners of eight victories, tied for the league low, the Kings know a good beating when they see one.

So trust them when they say the Lakers of January are nothing like the struggling Lakers of early November--though you wouldn’t have known by watching the first three quarters of this mess.

As usual, the Lakers easily disposed of the Kings. This time it was 93-78 Thursday night in front of 17,014 at Arco Arena.

And as usual, James Worthy did most of the heavy lifting, what with an evening’s worth of work that included 36 points, which tied his season high. His 16-point second quarter kept the Lakers in the game and his 14-point fourth quarter nudged them comfortably ahead.

“Just one of those nights when things were rolling pretty good,” Worthy said.

Speak for yourself. Except for Worthy and A.C. Green--the only two players singled out by Coach Mike Dunleavy afterward for notable performances--the Lakers struggled. Subtract Worthy from the equation and Laker starters were a combined 14 of 39 from the field, which won’t win many games.

But remember, these were the Kings, who hadn’t beaten the Lakers in the last 10 tries.

Make it 11 now.

And while we’re on the subject of streaks, the Lakers are in the midst of a pleasant one. They have won five consecutive games, nine of their past 11 and have moved into a second-place tie with Phoenix in the Pacific Division at 24-11.

The Lakers could have passed for the Kings in the early going. Sacramento controlled the boards, the tempo and, on occasion, the lead as late as midway through the third quarter. Dunleavy was ready to send up flares for help.

Instead, he turned to Worthy, who, along with Green, energized the Laker lineup in no time at all. Worthy (17 of 29 from the field) scored almost at will and Green, the first player off the bench, delivered key rebound after rebound, defensive play after defensive play.

“(Green) was the spark we needed,” Dunleavy said. “He plays like (John) Havlicek. He has that store of energy.”

As for Worthy, Dunleavy didn’t seem entirely surprised. After all, it was the plan of the night.

“James was terrific on a night when we were struggling to score,” he said. “When things are tough, you go to your go-to guy. And he’s our man.”

Despite their many struggles, the Lakers still look good to the Kings. Then again, any team with more than eight victories looks good to the Kings, who have beaten the Lakers here only twice since moving to Sacramento in 1985.

Lethargy or not, the Lakers did manage to win again and on the road. And sure, the first-half score (40-40) wasn’t becoming, but what does it matter?

“Everybody talks about the problems the Lakers have,” said Jerry Reynolds, the Kings’ player personnel director. “Hey, they’re getting better . To me, they’re clearly more talented than last year.

“And everybody talks about Magic, that he’s not what he was. I say that’s bull. His demise is exaggerated. I’ll tell you what, any time they feel he’s on the downhill slide, we’ll give them their pick of any of our five.”

Laker Notes

This being the state capital (to say nothing of being located within an hour of four military installations), Arco Arena officials decided to bolster security. Hours before the game began, local police summoned a canine unit to search the building for explosives. No sign of foul play. Sacramento police also increased their arena patrol from eight officers to 12.

The poor Kings. First the Lakers, followed by Phoenix, Houston, Milwaukee and Portland. Some stretch. . . . Terry Teagle, 10 of 14 from the field Tuesday night against Charlotte, could manage only three baskets in nine tries against the Kings in 20 minutes.