Lakers Will Try to Bring the Rockets Down to Earth

Which Laker team will show up?

The one that posted the NBA’s best record (34-7) between Nov. 15 and the All-Star break?

Which Houston Rocket team will show up?

The one that went 23-4 in February and March, becoming everyone’s “team nobody wants to meet in the playoffs?”

Somebody had to meet the Rockets, and it’s the Lakers who will open the best-of-five series tonight at the Forum against a 52-game winner, the best No. 6-seeded team in NBA history.

The Rockets started slowly, saw Hakeem Olajuwon’s supporting cast ridiculed publicly by Charlotte Hornet Coach Gene Littles, lost Olajuwon, slumped, and were ripped by Coach Don Chaney after a Jan. 21 loss to the Sacramento Kings: “We’re not any better than this team without Hakeem. Sooner or later these guys are going to have to face that reality.”

Chaney looked like a dead duck, himself, with owner Charlie Thomas suggesting pointedly that he cease reviewing his contract status in the newspapers.

Impressed by Chaney’s oratory, despairing of their plight, or by coincidence, the Rockets caught fire. The supporting cast, notably forward Otis Thorpe and Rocket launcher Vern Maxwell, discovered new confidence. They went 9-2. Houston talk shows rang with suggestions to trade Olajuwon. Insisting his feelings weren’t hurt, Olajuwon noted that many teams would love to have him and would give him a raise to boot: “I could be happy with more money, if that’s what everybody wants.”

With him, the Rockets went 14-1 in March. Their 52 victories are a franchise-high, and Chaney is likely to be coach of the year.

However, the Rockets finished 3-5. Maxwell had said they were “just resting for the playoffs,” guaranteeing victories in the last three home games, whereupon they lost to the hot San Antonio Spurs and the comatose Dallas Mavericks.

Aside from that, it was a season like any other.

Here’s how the series shapes up:

GUARDS

There are big physical defenders who can bother Magic Johnson, such as Dan Majerle, but Houston doesn’t have one. Byron Scott had a good, even season.

The Rockets’ red glare comes from their backcourt, which runs the gamut from spectacular to beneath contempt. Kenny Smith came from nowhere to become a top point guard and shoot 52%, so he shouldn’t be lumped with running mates Maxwell and Sleepy Floyd, whose pictures could appear in the dictionary next to the words volatile and erratic .

Mad Max took more shots than Olajuwon after Hakeem returned, more than any Rocket and more three-pointers than anyone in the NBA. His overall percentage: 40%. Floyd came off the bench for some huge games, including a high of 40 points--seven different Rockets had highs of 27 or more--but his overall mark was 41%.

In the playoffs, long shots get harder, and there is no doubt the Lakers will protect the lane and invite the Rockets to shoot them.

There’s no doubt the Rockets will shoot them, either. All that remains is the counting.

FORWARDS

James Worthy and Sam Perkins, both 6 feet 9, aren’t the bulkiest tandem but pose a problem for most teams: Who do you put your small forward--in this case 6-7 Buck Johnson--on? Both Lakers can wear out smaller defenders.

Thorpe is a powerhouse at 6-10 and 236 pounds. They used to say he got lost, but maybe it was because the ball found its way inside to him as often as sunlight hit the bottom of a mine shaft. Johnson is a decent small forward.

CENTER

Let’s just say the Lakers have a little problem here.

Vlade Divac, of whom much was expected, had a nice run from Jan. 1 to March 1, averaging 10 rebounds a game, but only seven after that. He’s the key to the Laker postseason; they need him in his live mode.

Olajuwon, actually a feather above 6-10 rather than the 7-0 they list him, is a running, jumping, rebounding, scoring, shot-blocking fool, the game’s most talented center since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Despite the new distributed offense, you can believe this: When things get tough, Olajuwon is going to see what Divac has.

BENCHES

Terry Teagle was lost until hitting his stride in the last two weeks. Without his scoring, the Lakers’ bench is in trouble.

The Rockets bring in the incredible Larry Smith. Mr. Mean, 31, a mere 6-8, was 13th in the NBA in rebounding--in 24 minutes a game--and turned their season around, posting eight games in the 20s with Olajuwon gone. Floyd can be explosive.

COACHES

Chaney’s team has been ousted in both his playoff series the last two seasons. Mike Dunleavy makes his debut. “I don’t know any better,” he says, laughing. “I’m excited.”

Laker Notes

History: The Lakers never won a playoff from the Rockets until last season when they triumphed, 3-1, over a team that was 41-41, fifth in its division. . . . In 1981’s opening round, Moses Malone led a 40-42 team to a 2-1 upset of the defending champions. A reserve guard named Mike Dunleavy hit the winning 16-footer just before Magic Johnson’s airball. . . . In 1986, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson led a 4-1 Rocket rout.