Talk Is Cheap to Harris

So Nick Van Exel put the Pacific Division in the refrigerator with the season barely half over.

So what, says Del Harris.

“Since Moses Malone said that he and four guys from Petersburg [Va.] could beat the Celtics, I’m pretty much immune to anything,” the Laker coach figures.

And that was in the 1981 NBA finals, when Harris coached Malone and the Houston Rockets against the Celtics, a series Boston eventually won. So to hear Van Exel, his Laker point guard, make a bold prediction the other day was hardly cause for concern that it might become an emotional lift for the Seattle SuperSonics.

“That’s what goes on these days,” Harris said. “I don’t think anybody takes it all that seriously, as far as what one guy says or doesn’t say. As long as it’s not too personal.

“It creates interest and I don’t think anybody takes it seriously. I know that if Seattle is dead, I forgot to send flowers.”

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Robert Horry is expected to return to action, and the starting lineup, tonight against the Washington Bullets, just in time for the Lakers. Having Eddie Jones, at 6 feet 6, defend Jamal Mashburn or Sean Elliott was one thing, but 6-9 Juwan Howard would have been quite another, with another small forward with post-up skills, Rodney Rogers of the Clippers, coming up Tuesday.

Even if Horry wasn’t ready to go tonight--he has practiced the last two days after sitting out two games because of a sprained ankle--Harris probably would have been forced to send Jones back to shooting guard and Kobe Bryant to the bench anyway in favor of the more physical Jerome Kersey.

“These guys are real difficult to go small against,” Harris said of the Bullets.

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Corie Blount, on the injured list since Jan. 10 because of a torn ligament in his right thumb, had the cast removed. But the reserve forward is about two weeks away from being able to rejoin full practices.