Notes on a Scorecard - April 18, 1995

Tonight’s ticket: The Lakers vs. Seattle at the Forum. . . .

Playoff position is still at stake, and so is the Lakers’ unbeaten record against the formidable SuperSonics this season. . . .

After losing 13 of 15 games to Seattle in the previous three seasons, the Lakers have turned it around to 4-0. . . .

Against the rest of what presently constitutes the NBA’s Western Conference playoff field, the Lakers are 4-0 vs. Houston, 2-1 vs. Portland, 2-2 vs. Denver, 2-2 vs. Utah, 1-4 vs. Phoenix and 1-4 vs. San Antonio. . . .

If the Lakers hold on to the fifth-best record in the conference, they will open the playoffs next week on the road against the team with the fourth-best record. . . .

But the winner of that series should not be envied. Next up probably would be San Antonio. The Lakers have lost their last two games against the Spurs by a total of 37 points. . . .

The Lakers can reach their goal of 50 regular-season victories by taking two of their remaining three against Seattle, Portland on the road Thursday and the Trail Blazers at the Forum Saturday. . . .

Fifty would come as a pleasant surprise to Del Harris. . . .

“For a team to rank 26th in the league in defensive rebounding and win as many games as we have is almost a miracle,” Harris said in his pregame news conference Sunday. . . .

Then the Lakers went out, got two more defensive rebounds than Dallas and beat the Mavericks, 125-111. . . .

“The top teams in the league have been exposing us as a lousy rebounding team that will be very vulnerable in the playoffs if we don’t make it our No. 1 priority,” Harris had said. . . .

“It’s not that somebody goes to rebounding school,” Harris said. “It’s a matter of wanting to be a rebounder. I had Moses Malone and he led the league in rebounding because that’s what he wanted to do. It’s all about priorities.” . . .

Members of the first Laker team to win an NBA finals series over the Boston Celtics will be honored during a 10th- anniversary ceremony at halftime Saturday at the Forum. . . .

The players: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, Bob McAdoo, Kurt Rambis, Mitch Kupchak, Jamaal Wilkes, Mike McGee, Larry Spriggs, Ronnie Lester, Chuck Nevitt. . . .

The coaches: Pat Riley, Bill Bertka, Dave Wohl. . . .

Because of other commitments, Scott and Riley will be unable to attend. . . .

Rookie-of-the-year candidate Glenn Robinson is leading the NBA in one category, most turnovers committed, with an average of 4.0. . . .

The Verbum Dei High team that won the boys’ Division IV state title was honored at halftime Sunday at the Forum--and then it presented Magic Johnson with a plaque. Johnson paid for the rental of a bus that brought Verbum Dei fans to Oakland for the championship game. . . .

*

The best race remaining at Santa Anita is in the jockeys’ standings between Kent Desormeaux, who has 103 winners, and Corey Nakatani, who has 100. . . .

This is only the third time in the track’s history that two riders have had 100 winners in the same meeting. . . .

Both will be busy at Churchill Downs on May 6, Desormeaux riding Afternoon Deelites and Nakatani riding either Serena’s Song, if Wayne Lukas decides to run her in the Kentucky Derby rather than the Oaks, or Eltish. . . .

USC hammer thrower Balazs Kiss set an NCAA record at 257 feet 5 inches in the Mt. SAC Relays. . . .

Kiss is a junior who has won two national titles and has a chance to join former Washington hammer thrower Scott Neilson and the late Oregon 5,000-meter runner Steve Prefontaine as four-time winners. . . .

Brett Hull’s 23rd career hat trick Sunday put him only five behind the family record set by his father Bobby. . . .

David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone will get plenty of most valuable player votes in the NBA, but Eric Lindross of the Philadelphia Flyers figures to be a runaway winner in the NHL. . . .

With the NFL draft coming up Saturday and Sunday, and Steve McNair, Kerry Collins, Rob Johnson, Chad May and John Walsh among the leading quarterback candidates, it should be remembered that Joe Montana was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round and No. 82 overall in 1979. Quarterbacks taken ahead of him were Jack Thompson, Phil Simms and Steve Fuller. . . .

Former Angel first baseman Lee Stevens is leading the Pacific League in Japan with eight home runs. . . .

This time it is the umpires who are getting thrown out of the game, and it isn’t fair.