They’ve Kept Resolution : Lakers Achieve New Year Aim and Leave the Pack Far Behind

OK, so the Seattle SuperSonics are still somewhere out there in the distance, maybe too far ahead to be caught this or any other month of the regular season, thus allowing them the opportunity to celebrate a division title before their customary playoff crash-and-burn.

Otherwise, the new year has delivered a new season to the Lakers. They were 16-15 on Jan. 1 but have gone from there all the way to 31-19 after Tuesday night’s victory over the Clippers at the Forum. They got Magic back, and got back the magic of 1994-95.

The Lakers will have played 16 of their last 20 games within Los Angeles County when tonight’s game at the Sports Arena is over, an amazing stretch of favorable scheduling that sent them out of town only twice in seven weeks, for a game at Denver and a three-game Eastern swing. Even that included a day off to travel between Boston and Philadelphia and then only a bus ride between Philadelphia and New Jersey.

They took advantage of it and are 15-4 in that stretch after Tuesday night’s game. And that was after opening the homestand with losses to the lowly 76ers--they squandered a 19-point lead in what was one of only four road victories for Philadelphia--and the Nuggets within the first three games.

Since then, the real challenge has been maneuvering around their fallen victims without tripping. The Western Conference logjam that remains in front of them--Seattle, Utah, San Antonio and Houston--suddenly is nothing compared to the crowd fading in their rear-view mirror.

Sacramento, its brief tease a distant memory, has lost seven in a row and plummeted from second place in the Pacific Division, 3 1/2 games ahead of the Lakers when 1996 arrived, to six behind and in danger of falling into fourth place.

Phoenix dropped from a game behind L.A. to seven back.

Golden State and Portland, three games back then, are ancient history.

Denver has gone from two games behind for fifth place in the Western Conference to 10 1/2 games back.

Even the Clippers were close enough to be interesting on Jan. 1, then an encouraging 11-19 and 4 1/2 games behind their cross-town rivals. Today, the gap is 14 1/2.

“No. 1, we’re playing well,” said Coach Del Harris, pleased with the Lakers’ run after challenging them to use the huge block of home games as a catapult.

“No. 2, we’ve gone from third in the division to second and have put some space in. At the time I talked about that, we were almost as close to being out of the playoffs as moving up. At this point, we’ve kind of removed ourselves from the pack. Now you’re looking at five [Western Conference] teams and then the pack, whereas before it was four teams and then the pack.”

But, No. 3, they’re not No. 1. Harris’ first-place-or-bust challenge for this schedule never came close to materializing because Seattle has not merely held off the charging Lakers--the SuperSonics have increased their advantage in the Pacific Division by going 19-4.

“I don’t think you’re satisfied,” guard Eddie Jones said. “You’ve just got to look at it like we did our part, but that Seattle also did their part.

“Overall, I’m very pleased with what we’ve done. When you have a lot of home games, you’ve got to come out on top. You can’t be a .500 team at home. Then that success carries out onto the road.”

Said Harris, “It’s incredible, as well as we’ve done, we didn’t gain any ground on Seattle.”

Everyone else, however, is within their sights, especially since they have beaten Utah, second in the West, twice in the 20 games and Houston once, with another meeting with the Rockets on Saturday. To think all this happened after those losses to the 76ers and Nuggets dropped the Lakers to 17-17.

Even the surge didn’t start with a bang. They needed two free throws by Jones with 1.3 seconds left to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves the next game. But then they had consecutive monster showings by Vlade Divac against Hakeem Olajuwon and Alonzo Mourning in wins over Houston and Miami, followed by a victory over the Clippers at the Sports Arena.

The four-game winning streak, their first since mid-November, ended Jan. 20 against Cleveland, hardly a disgrace considering the Cavaliers continue to play well. Then another streak began with road victories over the Celtics, 76ers and Nets as Elden Campbell starred, a return to the Forum, a return by Johnson, and then Golden State was dispatched.

The Bulls rumbled through next, providing a dose of reality, but the Lakers picked themselves up again. They beat the Jazz, beat the Nuggets on the road, came back home and beat the Nets, had six days off because of the All-Star break, and then came back to knock off Atlanta and Dallas for a season-best five-game winning streak.

Of course there has been help. Each of the six road games, two of which have been at the Sports Arena, were against teams that today have losing records. And the 14 opponents in this span, even with Chicago throwing its considerable weight around, are 340-376.

“I think we’ve been through a lot, with Earvin coming back and all the adjustments that went with it,” Anthony Peeler said. “We did well with it.”

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Scrambling for Position

A look at the NBA Western Conference standings on Jan. 1 and today, and the records of the teams in that span. The first eight teams at the completion of the NBA’s regular season qualify for the playoffs.

JAN. 1

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Team Record GB 1. Houston 22-8 -- 2. Seattle 20-8 1 3. San Antonio 19-8 1 1/2 4. Utah 20-9 1 1/2 5. Sacramento 17-9 3 6. Lakers 16-15 6 1/2 7. Phoenix 13-14 7 1/2 8. Denver 13-16 8 1/2 9. Golden State 12-17 9 1/2 9. Portland 12-17 9 1/2 11. Clippers 11-19 11

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TODAY

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Team Record GB 1. Seattle 39-12 -- 2. Utah 35-16 4 3. San Antonio 34-16 4 1/2 4. Houston 34-19 6 5. Lakers 31-19 7 1/2 6. Sacramento 24-24 13 1/2 7. Phoenix 24-26 14 1/2 8. Golden State 24-27 15 9. Portland 24-29 16 10. Denver 21-30 18 11. Clippers 17-34 22

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RECORDS SINCE JAN. 1

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Team Record Seattle 19-4 Lakers 15-4 Utah 15-7 San Antonio 15-8 Golden State 12-10 Houston 12-11 Portland 12-12 Phoenix 11-12 Denver 8-14 Sacramento 7-15 Clippers 6-15

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