Lack of Firepower Hurts Worthy, Lakers in Loss

The gun’s chambers may look empty to those who have seen him fire at a 20% rate the last four games and 28.8% the last 11, but James Worthy knows better. He has traveled this road before.

“I know the lift is missing,” he was saying Tuesday night. “Sometimes they’re short. Sometimes they go in and come out. I don’t think I have given a whole lot of attention to the mechanical. I just want to shoot, shoot, shoot my way out.”

So he will try to do just that, even when it looks bad, bad, bad. Like at the Alamodome, where his slump continued with a three-for-13 showing in the Lakers’ 112-97 loss to the San Antonio Spurs before 17,397.

It has been this way since Jan. 4 at Denver, save the night he scored 22 points to help in the upset victory against Phoenix at the Forum. Otherwise, two for 10. Two for eight. One for 11. One for 11, again. Four for 13. The ones that come close to respectable are the eight for 18, the four for nine.

That brings Worthy to the halfway point of his 12th season shooting 38%, lower than the 44.7% the last two years that were lows for his career. Those numbers begin to spell. . . . . . . . D-e-c-l-i-n-e?

But, apparently, not p-a-n-i-c.

“You know you can’t stop shooting,” he said. “That’s when it is the worst. It’s tough when they are not going down, but it’s worse when you hesitate.”

The Lakers need his scoring more now than any time this season. They need the 10.3 points every night because Doug Christie and Anthony Peeler are injured. To that end, Worthy has played fewer than 19 minutes only once in the 11 games.

“We’ve talked, and we continue to experiment with some options and we will continue to do that,” Laker Coach Randy Pfund said. “I’m not giving up on James Worthy at all. He’s been through tough stretches before and found his way back.”

Worthy was hardly the only problem as the Lakers’ two-game winning streak was snapped. The team shot 43.2% and was outrebounded by 17. Dale Ellis had season-highs with 32 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, and David Robinson had 30 and 11.

Still, the Lakers stayed close until midway through the third quarter, trailing by 10 points. But San Antonio, winner of 12 of its last 15 games, took control for good with an 8-2 run that was worth a 76-60 advantage.

The only spark that remained was the scuffle that got Elden Campbell and Terry Cummings ejected with 2:23 remaining. Cummings was bothered by Campbell, who was trying to clear some room for an outlet pass with his elbows, and Campbell was surprised when Cummings pushed him in the back. But this encounter will probably best be remembered for Cummings taking a quick swipe . . . while backpedaling.

“It was a great fight,” Spur Coach John Lucas said. “Sleepy (Floyd) told T.C. he didn’t need to worry about being suspended because that punch wouldn’t merit a fine.”

But at least Campbell was on the court in part of the fourth quarter, after riding the bench down the stretch the two previous games. Even with the early exit, he finished with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Nick Van Exel led the Lakers in scoring with 24 points.

Laker Notes

The Lakers signed guard Reggie Jordan to a second 10-day contract before the game. When this one is up, they must sign him for the rest of the season or release him. . . . Vinny Del Negro made two free throws to set a Spur record with 48 consecutive trips to the line without a miss. James Silas had the old mark from 1975-76. . . . Nick Van Exel’s eight assists while playing 41 minutes, including all of the fourth quarter, Friday against Detroit at the Forum was all the more impressive, considering the state of his right calf. Van Exel was kneed earlier in the game and probably wouldn’t have been used late, except the Lakers needed him when the Pistons went to a three-guard alignment.