Lakers Finished on Short End

The biggest guy was relatively harmless. Dikembe Mutombo, he of the 33 blocks in the last five Forum visits, was neutralized by foul trouble, finishing with seven rebounds, four swats, a few intimidations and one made free throw in 24 minutes.

The smallest Nugget, now that’s another matter. Give Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf the credit for Denver’s 96-93 victory over the Lakers before 13,845 at the Forum on Sunday night. The credit and much more.

“You have to give the game ball--and the nets, and the rims, and the court,” Laker Coach Del Harris said.

Call it a trade. He gave the Lakers fits.

Abdul-Rauf, the 6-foot-1 point guard, came in shooting 35.8% the previous three games and 40.8% on the season, then made 13 of 19 attempts, including seven of eight three-point shots. He finished with a game-high 33 points, and 12 of those came in the decisive fourth quarter. Just another night for him--the former Chris Jackson had 51 points and nine three-point baskets exactly a month earlier at Utah--but the likes of which the Lakers have rarely seen. No one has ever made more from behind the arc against L.A., and only Dana Barros, then with Philadelphia, has had as many.

“I don’t think we wanted to lose tonight,” Abdul-Rauf said. “We lost to them in the first game, and it looked like it was headed that way again. I was trying to do everything I could to not make that happen.”

Like making consecutive three-point baskets that brought the Nuggets, on the wrong side of an 11-0 run only a minute earlier, into an 84-84 tie with 4:11 remaining. About a minute after that, surrounded by defenders Eddie Jones and Vlade Divac, he dropped in a 10-foot shot that made for a two-point lead. When the Lakers pulled back ahead, he answered with an 18-footer.

That last basket put the Nuggets up, 88-87, with 2:03 remaining. They never trailed again, although the Lakers did earn a 90-90 tie with 1:01 left on Jones’ three-point shot. Denver scored on its next two possessions for a four-point lead with 11.6 remaining.

The Lakers, however, were not finished. Divac’s three-point play with 5.3 seconds to go, with help from an ill-advised sixth foul by Mutombo, got them back within one, and even after Nugget Bryant Stith made two free throws with 4.3 remaining following an intentional foul, the deficit was still three.

Harris called timeout, allowing the Lakers to advance the ball to halfcourt and save time. Divac was handed the ball for the inbound pass and Sedale Threatt broke free for a wide-open three-point shot, but the Laker center did not see him before Nugget Antonio McDyess saved the defense by jumping in Divac’s face for an intentional delay of game call.

On the second try, Divac got the ball in to Nick Van Exel. Abdul-Rauf’s point guard counterpart, on a night when he also impressed with 19 points and 10 assists, had time for a few dribbles then double-pumped to get open for a three-point try with about a second left. The shot hit the heel of the rim and bounced away.

That clinched it. The game belonged to the Nuggets, their fifth victory in the last six games at the Forum, the night to Abdul-Rauf.

“I think we did a pretty good job as far as having somebody in his face,” Van Exel said. “But he was feeling it.”

By the end of the night, so were the Lakers.

Laker Notes

Anthony Peeler was back in uniform after missing Friday’s victory over Utah to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Missouri, but Coach Del Harris, not wanting to rush him back after a difficult time, kept one of his best offensive weapons on the bench. “I would rather Anthony get another practice in [Monday],” Harris said. “Then we’ll get him back on the court.” . . . A trying time with the team over the last week was made even more difficult for Harris with the death of one of his closest friends, Dick Hecht. Harris will stay in Los Angeles, but his wife, Ann, planned to catch a red-eye flight to Milwaukee after Sunday’s game to attend today’s funeral. Hecht died from lung cancer in Wisconsin on Friday. . . . The Lakers’ victory over the Jazz on Friday--when Cedric Ceballos scored 28 points, Nick Van Exel 26 and Eddie Jones 25--marked the first time in 11 months the Lakers had three players get at least 25 in the same game. It was also the first time Ceballos had been shut out on the boards in his 392 career regular season and playoff games.