Lakers Are Finding Themselves : NBA: Players and coach are well on their way to establishing a new identity without Magic Johnson.

The word “heart” has been a frequently used word around the Los Angeles Lakers.

First, we heard when Magic Johnson retired on Nov. 7 that he was the heart and soul of the team, and the Lakers and the NBA would never be the same without him.

The next day, we heard that the Lakers didn’t have their hearts in the game when they lost 113-85 to the Phoenix Suns.

Two days after that, the Lakers started a nine-game winning streak that put them back in the race for the Western Conference’s best record, prompting coach Mike Dunleavy to say after the run was over, “They played their hearts out.”

Despite three subsequent road losses by an average of 24 points, it’s become clear after Johnson’s shocking departure that the Lakers aren’t about to fall to the bottom of the NBA.

They appear to have too much heart for that to happen.

“A lot of the league anticipated the Lakers going down after Magic, but the job Dunleavy has done has been amazing,” New Jersey center Sam Bowie said after Los Angeles defeated the Nets to finish a grueling 12-day road trip with a 4-3 record. “As devastating as the loss of Magic was to this team, these guys still believe they’re going to win another ring.”

That the Lakers have righted themselves so quickly can be directly traced to three sources: Dunleavy, James Worthy and Sedale Threatt.

Dunleavy has had to deal not only with the shocking loss of Johnson, but injuries to his two young centers -- Vlade Divac and Elden Campbell.

Dunleavy is probably the early front-runner for Coach of the Year, an honor that eluded Pat Riley until after he had won four championships with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson.

“There is no way of knowing how you will react when big pieces of the puzzle are taken away,” Dunleavy said. “When you lose your starting point guard and your center, things can fall apart in a hurry. But winning nine games is a long time even when everyone is healthy.”

Dunleavy and the Lakers have done it with supreme effort, especially on defense. During the nine-game winning streak, the opposition scored under 100 points eight times and under 90 five times.

“We just refused to take a loss, and three or four times we were down 10 points in the fourth quarter and still won,” Dunleavy said.

Worthy, like Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson, a No. 1 draft pick, has been a brilliant leader on and off the court.

After the Nov. 8 loss at Phoenix, Worthy took his teammates aside and convinced them the future wouldn’t wait.

It was a surprising development since Worthy had never before been called upon to be a vocal leader.

“I said that we had to start playing now, not February or March,” Worthy said. “We had to focus on basketball and not become emotionally controlled by what’s happened.”

“What James said when we were all so far down after losing to Phoenix was the most important thing,” Threatt said.

Threatt, however, may be too modest because he might be the most important reason for the Lakers’ continued success.

A nine-year veteran of four NBA teams, Threatt was acquired from Seattle in the offseason strictly as a backup for Johnson.

Despite never averaging more than 12.7 points or 3.8 assists in a season, Threatt has given the Lakers the point guard that a top team requires. He’s averaging 14.0 points and 7.6 assists.

“If I had been in the league only two or three years, I couldn’t have done it,” Threatt said. “But I’m a nine-year veteran. I guess I’ve been preparing a long time for this even if I’ve never been in this position.

“I always wanted to be in this position, but I didn’t want to get it the way I did. If Magic was here, we’d be a championship team.”

How are the Lakers different than the team that was carried by Johnson for 11 years?

“Earvin was such a unique person,” Worthy said. “There won’t be another like him. Execution is a must. We won’t have the same mismatches and we won’t have an 11-time All-Star running the team.”

Worthy said the Lakers depend on a core of veterans -- himself, Sam Perkins and Byron Scott -- to be the leaders.

“Magic was a big part of this team, but now we have a different look,” said the 6-foot-9 Perkins, who has had to play part-time at center because of injuries.

“I never played with any other point guard but Earvin,” Scott said. “Something very special has been taken away from us. Something that has been part of my life since I’ve been in the league.

“This is still a long season and there’s a lot we can accomplish. This is a test, playing a whole season without Earvin. We’ll see if what he had, and instilled, rubs off on all of us.”

Threatt said the size differential between himself and Johnson forced Dunleavy to revise the Lakers’ offense.

“I’m 6-2 and Magic is 6-9,” Threatt said. “I’m not going inside to post up other guards like he could. So the main change is we have to rely on a motion offense. We just don’t have the size in the backcourt that Magic had.”