Despite Losses, Lakers Have Taken Advantage

By SCOTT HOWARD-COOPER

April 4, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

CLEVELAND —

The Lakers finally said goodbye to the East on Wednesday night, though they hope not for good. A few more games in Chicago or Orlando would be nice, say, sometime in mid-June.

But for now, after going 4-2 on the six-game trip that ended with a 105-89 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers before 20,562 at Gund Arena thanks to a second consecutive night of poor shooting, there are more immediate challenges. We’re not talking about the Vancouver Grizzlies, the next opponent, either.

The Houston Rockets, absent from the schedule for the final 2 1/2 weeks of the regular season, are still very much on the Lakers’ minds. No wonder. It’s all but official the teams will meet in the first round of the playoffs in what should be the best opening series in the league, a best-of-five matchup that will start April 25 or 26.

Now to decide where it will start. Barring an unforeseen major shift in the middle of the Western Conference standings, that’s all that remains unclear for the Lakers as they head into the last leg of the regular season, the final 10 games.

Home-court advantage, that’s all.

“It’s a goal,” Magic Johnson said after getting a game-high 26 points along with eight rebounds, still not enough for the Lakers to avoid being swept in the season series by the Cavaliers. “We’re going to take care of business.

“We’re going to go for home-court advantage. No question about that. If you don’t enjoy the pressure, if you don’t enjoy somebody like Houston on your back, you shouldn’t be in the NBA or be in sports.”

The Lakers’ magic number to open at home and be guaranteed three of the possible five games at the Forum is eight. Their lead in the standings is 2 1/2 games.

The home stretch comes as the Rockets are about to begin a home stretch--six of their last nine games are at the Summit. The next two are on the road, but at Sacramento and Denver, one of which will probably make the playoffs while the other heads to the lottery, and then it’s back to Houston to face the Grizzlies, Nuggets and Mavericks. That makes it a pretty easy stretch.

The other good news for the Rockets is that the light at the end of the tunnel is no longer coming from the examination room. Clyde Drexler, having sat out the last 18 games after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, may be back Friday. Likewise Mario Elie, sidelined the last 36 games because of a fractured right arm. Hakeem Olajuwon has been out seven of the last eight games because of tendinitis in both knees, but the Rockets have targeted next Tuesday for his permanent return. Sam Cassell, recovering from surgery on his right elbow that has cost him the last 14 contests, could be back a week after that.

The Lakers plan to make sure their collective returns come too late.

“We got it,” Coach Del Harris said of the cushion for fourth place. “We sure don’t want to give up something we’ve already got.”

That wasn’t much of a problem Wednesday--the Lakers never led after 7-5. They trailed by 15 points early in the fourth quarter to get within 89-80 with 5:17 remaining, then disappeared for good, falling behind by as many as 20 points in the closing minutes.

Even that could not make them feel bad about the trip, though, not even closing it out with back-to-back losses. It was a great run that included a 22-point victory at Orlando, fourth-quarter stands at three other spots and, perhaps more important than anything, newfound enthusiasm and momentum. The Cavaliers could slow the tempo, but not the Lakers’ emotions.

“You don’t like to lose,” Harris said. “But as I told the team in the locker room, we should dwell on the fact that we won four of six and have a good team instead of that we lost the last two. All that matters is how you respond to a situation and that you are able to see the big picture.”

There it is now. Houston, out in the distance.

Laker Notes

Tickets for all possible Laker playoff games go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Forum and all TicketMaster outlets. The limit is six tickets per customer per game. For people buying at the Forum, priority numbers will be randomly distributed at 9 a.m., so there is no advantage to arriving much earlier. TicketMaster has locations at Blockbuster Music, Tower Records and Robinson’s/May. . . . Nick Van Exel sat out the fourth quarter for the second time in three games because of a strained left groin, but the Lakers and Van Exel said again it’s nothing serious. They’re listing him as day-to-day.

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Tracking Magic Johnson’s comeback

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

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Min. FG FT Pts. Reb. Ast. 39 8-13 (.615) 7-7 (1.000) 26 8 4

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SEASON AVERAGES

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Min. FG% FT% Pts. Reb. Ast. 30.6 .486 .873 15.7 5.8 6.9

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CAREER AVERAGES