Lakers’ Victory Is No. 50 : Pro basketball: Worthy scores 26 points and Johnson gets a triple-double in 99-89 win over the Kings.

With the clock winding down and the pressure building up, what do you do?

If you’re James Worthy, you jump toward the rafters of Arco Arena and slam a rebound one-handed through the hoop to wrap up Laker victory No. 50.

Worthy broke open a close game with his resounding jam to punctuate the Lakers’ 99-89 victory Monday night over the Sacramento Kings, then announced: “I got young legs, man. Prime time legs.”

Actually, the entire body of Worthy’s work against the Kings was fairly impressive stuff. He finished with 26 points, three assists, two steals and an understated critique from his coach.

“James has really been on a roll for us,” Mike Dunleavy said.

And how far the Lakers roll, well, that’s anybody’s guess. At this point, there are only three teams with 50 victories, and the Lakers are one of them--Boston and Chicago are the others.

That is enough to impress King Coach Dick Motta.

“I’m not a betting man, but if I had some money in my pockets, I would bet on the Lakers to win the NBA championship,” Motta said. “I would not bet against that team.”

It’s usually a pretty good bet that Laker starters will play a lot of minutes, and this one was no different. Worthy, Sam Perkins and Magic Johnson logged more than 40 minutes, but there was an even more impressive number.

Johnson came up with his 134th triple double--19 points, 14 assists, 12 rebounds--and that was nice enough, but not as great as having the next three days off.

So how are the Lakers going to be the rest of the way?

“I think it’s going to be all right,” Johnson said.

However, at one juncture of the fourth quarter, the bright Laker forecast seemed in doubt. A 13-point lead shrank to 87-84 with 5:52 to go. From there, the Lakers went on a 10-2 tear, with Worthy’s one-handed dunk off Byron Scott’s miss ending any doubts with 1:53 left.

The only doubt Worthy has is whether he will remain a Laker, what with all the trade rumors bouncing around while he tries to renegotiate his contract. Apparently, the news is not affecting his play, although it never strays too far from his thoughts.

“I’m not asking for a gift,” Worthy said. “I’m just asking for market value . . . something that’s been promised.”

The Lakers led, 52-44, at the half, but it wasn’t easy, and that didn’t seem so unusual.

For the Lakers, playing the second game of back-to-back nights on the road has not exactly been an carefree trail all season. So perhaps that explains their quick start against the Kings.

“I think we put a little more emphasis on that,” Worthy said. “We’re constantly monitoring each other’s games. Like Magic asked me once, ‘Are you tired?’ ”

He didn’t play like it, early or late. Worthy propelled himself through the lane for nine points in the first quarter, which went along nicely with Johnson’s eight points and four assists. The Lakers took a 10-point lead after one quarter.

But just as Johnson took a breather, the Kings got back to 31-28, and Dunleavy rushed him onto the floor. Worthy’s rebound basket after Terry Teagle clanked one off the rim coupled with Scott’s three-point shot put the Lakers up by 11.

Jim Les, a Continental Basketball Assn. refugee, rained through two three-pointers to close the gap to 45-39 before Worthy and A.C. Green combined for seven points in the last two minutes.

As usual, the Kings main methods of transportation were Lionel (L-Train) Simmons and Antoine Carr, but Simmons’ 25 points and 24 by Rory Sparrow weren’t enough to keep the Kings from running off the road.

Winning No. 50 is really a necessary milestone, Dunleavy pointed out. “Well, you’ve got to get there if you are going to get any higher,” he said.

Laker Notes

Best Excuse Dept: Duane Causwell, the Kings’ starting center, played only 16 minutes but still managed to anger Coach Dick Motta. Causwell’s problem? “I got into a hot tub before the game,” Causwell said. “My college coach told me never to do that.” . . . According to Magic Johnson, the Lakers’ 50th victory was satisfying because many predicted they would never win that many: “It’s a great step for us, because everybody predicted we’d be fifth or sixth in the division.” What? What people? “Every magazine predicted we’d be fifth or sixth. Now, we’ve just got to keep rolling.”