Sore, Injured Lakers Put a Hurt on Knicks

The Lakers ran with a limp Monday, going the whole way without Magic Johnson, losing Nick Van Exel and Derek Strong before the night was through, and still finding the New York Knicks to be little more than a speed bump.

The biggest tests these days may be of their recovery powers. They proved capable of bouncing back from rare defeat, blowing past the depleted Knicks, 114-96, before 17,505 at the Forum some 48 hours after having an eight-game winning streak snapped.

Now for the healing powers of the body.

Johnson is still battling calf problems. Van Exel suffered a right hip pointer after colliding with New York’s Charlie Ward in the fourth quarter and will be evaluated again today, although it does not appear serious. Strong played 17 minutes before being forced out, in considerable pain, by cramps in both hamstrings and will also face another examination today before his immediate future is determined.

At least the Lakers still have Cedric Ceballos, his game healthy as ever. Over the last six games--the ones in which they have gone mostly without Johnson--he has merely averaged 25.2 points and eight rebounds and shot 59.4%, numbers that all surpass his season statistics.

“I kind of naturally stepped into it,” Ceballos said, when asked if he has consciously attempted to fill Johnson’s void. “I’m not trying to step it up when Magic is out.”

Said Coach Del Harris: “You don’t have to [tell him]. He’s going to try as hard as he can anyway. Cedric only knows one speed--all out.”

Much like the Lakers these days.

With Ceballos scoring a game-high 27 points, they won for the 13th time in the last 15 games and extended the home winning streak to six.

Johnson had played only 63 seconds last Tuesday against the Clippers and only 11 minutes Saturday at Houston, so this marked the fifth consecutive game in which he either didn’t play or didn’t last until the second half. He won’t accompany the Lakers to Vancouver today.

“We’ve got to get it all the way right,” Johnson said, not wanting this to become a lingering injury.

He sat out, even if it was the Knicks, one of the glamour teams he enjoys facing, or at least what passes for the Knicks these days.

They held the Lakers to 82 points, still tied for L.A.’s season low, and won by 15 when the teams met Dec. 12 at Madison Square Garden, but limped into the rematch having lost five of the previous seven games, and almost as many players:

--Patrick Ewing, out for the third game in a row because of a sprained ankle;

--Charles Oakley, on the injured list because of a fractured thumb and not expected back for another month;

--J.R. Reid, suspended for Tuesday and also Wednesday at Sacramento for his flagrant elbow to the face of Phoenix’s A.C. Green the day before.

The cheap shot cost Reid $73,000--a $10,000 fine and $63,000 in missed salary for the two games.

Reid, prohibited from attending the game, said in a statement: “I’m sorry that it happened. But sometimes those things happen during the heat of the game. I’m really upset right now and I’m most upset since we’re so short-handed. I’ve let my teammates down.”

All the way down to Matt Fish, in the CBA on Friday and, suddenly, an NBA starter Monday. He thus became the Knicks’ fourth starting center in as many games.

The former Clipper, signed to a 10-day contract Saturday, held his own early against Vlade Divac, getting eight points and three rebounds in the first quarter. But the Lakers still had great success inside and built a 14-point lead within 9 1/2 minutes. They led, 61-53, at halftime.

The Knicks had closed within 70-67 midway through the third quarter, but the Lakers responded. The lead was back to 15 heading into the fourth after George Lynch’s 18-footer at the buzzer, then, 95-75, with 10:36 remaining.