U.S. Just Does It Again : Basketball: Stockton and Bird don’t play, but it doesn’t make any difference in 60-point victory over Panama.

Without John Stockton, the Dream Team made do with point guards named Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan and overwhelmed another band of foreign admirers.

Tuesday night it was Senor Stuart Gray and the Panamanians who succumbed by a tidy 112-52. The United States is 3-0 in the Tournament of Americas with an average victory margin of 61 points.

Not that it’s expected to tip the balance of terror, but the Americans learned late Monday night that Stockton has a hairline fracture of a bone in his lower right leg.

Bird sat out again Tuesday because of his sore back. One-sixth of the Dream Team was gone, raising the question of how many players the United States could lose and still be the best here.

“Don’t let me tell the truth,” Johnson said, laughing.

“Everybody except five,” said Jordan, grinning.

The Panamanians, at least, came into this with their eyes open. They had several U.S. connections, including Gray, the former UCLA Bruin, who was born in Panama, the son of a U.S. soldier stationed there. He was only recently informed he was a citizen . . . and invited to join the team.

Said Gray: “It was a shock to me.”

Panama had a plan, too. It became the first team to throw a zone at the U.S. from the beginning. When point guard Eddie Chavez of Santa Clara sank a three-pointer 44 seconds into the game, it marked the first time the Dream Team had trailed.

Chavez made two more three-pointers and the Panamanians led four more times, the last at 15-13.

“That was a bad scouting report,” Jordan said later. “P.J. Carlesimo said their guards couldn’t shoot so Magic was laying off them. That’s a Big East coach for you.”

Panama Coach Jim Baron was asked later what he was thinking at that point.

“Can we stop the game?” he said, laughing. “Just declare a blackout and stop it right there?”

The lights stayed on, but not for the Panamanians. The United States blanked them for 6:26 and went on a 16-0 run.

After that, it was another human wave assault.

Jordan went the last 7:24 of the half at point guard and the United States went on another 35-15 run. Jordan made four of four three-pointers in that span and Chris Mullin, who hadn’t been able to light up a zone defense since his St. John’s days, made four of five.

“With our team, you don’t know who’s going to do it,” Johnson said, “or when we’re going to do it, but it’s going to get done.

“It’s something to have an all-universe backup.”

Jordan made all his five shots and finished with 15 points and four assists.

“I’m not trying to be Michael Jordan,” Jordan said. “I’m not trying to be John Stockton. I just wanted to make some decent passes.”

He’s really trying to be Fred Couples.

Jordan played 27 holes of golf Monday and 36 Tuesday, leaving the team’s hotel at 7:15 each morning.

In this case, all the United States needs is four basketball players and a golfer.

Basketball Notes

Magic Johnson insists he won’t announce his decision on returning until after the Olympics, but sounds like a man who thinks he can--if he wants to. “I already knew what I could do,” he said. “It’s you guys (press) who didn’t know. The question was, ‘We’ll see if he’s still got it. Is he going to get sick? Is he going to get tired?’ But I already knew that if I was working out that hard and my T-cells and everything we had to watch were going great.” . . . Laker broadcaster Chick Hearn, here to promote the Olympic triplecast, says he thinks Johnson will return next season. . . . USA Basketball has until July 15 to decide whether to replace John Stockton. Stockton says he expects to be OK by then. “The pain really is not much worse than a charley horse, to be honest,” he said.

Larry Bird sat out again, while the crowd chanted “Larry! Larry!” once more. Once Bird faked going in and the crowd cheered again. “Yeah, well if there were two seconds left and the ball went out, I told the coaches I was going in,” he said. “And you know what? I guarantee I would have gotten a shot off, too.” . . . The Americans were surprised when Panama’s Leroy Jackson took a page out of their highlight films and dunked a lob late in the game. By international rules, dunking lobs is illegal unless the player starts his jump outside the lane. Said Johnson: “If you can lob, it can be a real showtime.”

In other games, Esteban Perez’s layup with 11 seconds to play gave Argentina a 73-71 victory over Cuba. Argentina (2-1) will play the United States tonight. The loser will play in Thursday’s quarterfinals, where a victory would ensure a trip to the Olympics. . . . Puerto Rico (3-1) defeated Venezuela, 91-80, to clinch a quarterfinal berth. . . . Mexico (1-2) kept its quarterfinal chances alive, beating Uruguay, 98-89. The winner of tonight’s Mexico-Venezuela game will advance.