Green Ejection Is Laker Protection : Pro basketball: Quiet forward felt team needed a jolt, so he gave them one during 111-102 victory over Nuggets.

And just what could A.C. Green, a born-again Christian who neither drinks nor curses, have possibly uttered to referee Joe Borgia to merit an ejection during the third quarter of the Lakers’ 111-102 victory over the Nuggets on Wednesday?

Byron Scott’s version of the event, which occurred with 4:39 remaining in the quarter and the Lakers ahead, 74-69, was: “Gosh darn it. That was a terrible call, you boo-boo.” He probably wasn’t far off.

“Everybody wants to know what I said,” Green said after his first ejection in five years. “My teammates thought I called him a knucklehead. Vlade (Divac) said I called him stupid. I really just asked him if he was going to make a call (after a basket by Sedale Threatt). They can’t believe he asked me to leave because of that.

“Actually,” Green said, a smile spreading across his face, “we were a little flat and I wanted to get us going. I sacrificed myself for the team tonight. The game was too close, and they played more focused and intense after I was gone.”

Their focus remained steady enough after Green (12 points, seven rebounds) departed to win their third consecutive game at the Forum, before 14,351. James Worthy led the Lakers with 21 points, Sam Perkins had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Divac registered all 13 of his points and all eight of his rebounds in the second half.

Chris Jackson’s 20 points led the Nuggets, whose three-game winning streak ended in the fatigue of playing the second game of a back-to-back sequence. They had rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second quarter to beat the SuperSonics Tuesday in Seattle, but they were outgunned by the Lakers Wednesday.

“We get a little tired and we stand around a little bit,” said Nugget Coach Dan Issel, who was elected to the Hall of Fame earlier this week. “We have a very inexperienced club, and we have to go through the growing pains of getting that NBA experience.”

They caused the Lakers some pain, with Jackson keeping them close early in the fourth quarter. Reggie Williams made a three-pointer to cut the Lakers’ lead to 87-84 with 9:13 remaining. However, the Lakers enjoyed a 6-0 run that put them ahead, 99-89, with 5:27 remaining.

“We’re starting to get things together a little bit,” Scott said after his 14-point effort. “Especially at home, where we need to put together some wins.

“Denver was playing tough in the fourth quarter, but with about six minutes left we started to shut them down and we started to hit our shots. The last couple of games we haven’t been shooting well, but tonight we made a conscious effort from the field and from the free-throw line.”

The Lakers hoped that facing the Nuggets would help lift Threatt out of his recent slump, since Threatt was their leading scorer in their first two games against the Nuggets this season. He scored 32 points--still his season high--Nov. 22 at the Forum and 27 on Dec. 19 in Denver, but he has been far off those numbers lately. In the eight games prior to Wednesday, he had three single-digit outputs in and averaged 11 points.

He didn’t get much from the Nuggets in the first half, as he scored only six points. However, he was better able to find open teammates, collecting five assists as the Lakers took a 60-57 halftime lead. Threatt finished with 16 points.

After watching Dikembe Mutombo launch three hook shots and score seven points in the first quarter, the Lakers held him scoreless during the second quarter by double-teaming him. In one such instance, with two Laker defenders in his face, Mutombo threw the ball away and the Lakers raced up court for an easy basket, a dunk by Green that gave them a 36-31 lead.

A strategy change, devised by assistant coach Bill Bertka, was behind Mutombo’s second-quarter shutout. He finished with 13 points, including four in the fourth quarter.

“He was getting deep position,” Bertka said, “and we asked Vlade or Sam to meet him higher. He’s very good at getting deep position.”

Laker Notes

A.C. Green’s ejection was his first since Jan. 22, 1988 against the New York Knicks. . . . Assistant Bill Bertka was assessed a technical foul arguing against Green’s second technical. “I would say the T was deserved,” Bertka admitted. “I just made a statement about how I felt the game was going and we were the victims.” . . . Vlade Divac moved into fifth place on the Lakers’ blocked shot list Monday with his 362nd. . . . Magic Johnson will receive his Olympic ring at halftime of Sunday’s game between the Lakers and Atlanta Hawks.