Mistakes Catch Up to Lakers

That the Lakers would pick Friday to turn over a new leaf was not a surprise. They turned over everything else.

The five-game winning streak that had resulted in a first-place tie in the Pacific Division and a heightened confidence, one that included a victory over the Seattle SuperSonics and blowouts against three other opponents in a series of mistake-free games, ended in the strangest of ways at the Forum. To the San Antonio Spurs. While committing 23 turnovers.

The 94-83 loss to the Spurs before 17,505, despite another big game from Sean Rooks, not only dropped the Lakers a game behind the SuperSonics and into a tie with the Houston Rockets for third place in the Western Conference, but also came with the end to another impressive run, that of averaging only 12.3 miscues the previous 11 games.

The Spurs were one of the last teams that should have happened against--only three teams in the league force fewer turnovers.

Then again, the Spurs were one of the most likely teams it should have happened against. The other time this season the Lakers committed 23 turnovers, a season high? Nov. 23 at San Antonio.

“A lot of them were just careless,” Coach Del Harris said after the Lakers missed the chance to match their longest winning streak of the season. “Not so much forced as just careless. Illegal picks. Three seconds in the lane. Passes to open guys, but at their feet or on their knees.

“It’s just uncharacteristic of us, but we had to pay the price. I don’t know the last time we had 23 turnovers, maybe the first month of the season, but those did us in.”

Added Nick Van Exel, who went from having one of the 10 best assist-to-turnover ratios in the league to committing seven: “It was a game like, I don’t know, we let them do everything.”

Again. The Lakers finish the season series against the Spurs 2-2, even though David Robinson missed all four games and Sean Elliott played in just two.

This one makes the Spurs 19-54. It also wasted 20 points and 12 rebounds from Rooks, not only his first double-double as a Laker but season highs in both.

“In the back of my mind I’m happy,” he said. “But it all kind of went for nothing.”

The Lakers’ second game in a row without both Elden Campbell and Travis Knight was tempered because it was also their second in a row with Rooks. Or at least the Rooks they had been waiting all season to see.

Quickly showing that his Wednesday game against the Nuggets--season highs with 14 points and 28 minutes--would not be a one-time wonder, he started at center again. And he started off big, getting 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the first half, numbers the Lakers would have considered a solid contribution for an entire night.

“Sean has really come along and helped us,” Harris said. “We thought he was a good player when we acquired him. It’s good to see Sean playing the way we know he can play.”

For all his problems this season, though, Rooks had at least been shooting the ball well, 60% for seven games before Friday and 57.1% the previous 13. Then when he opened four for six against the Spurs, it became a critical contribution considering the way the Lakers were unable to shake the team with the second-worst record in the Western Conference, a San Antonio squad that has continued to play hard even when there’s nothing tangible to play for.

Whether this will be enough to guarantee Rooks big minutes in the future remains to be seen. Campbell, the starting center, and Knight, the backup power forward, are both listed as day-to-day with a Sunday matchup with the Dallas Mavericks up next, but Campbell has a better chance to play. Knight is closer to doubtful.

Friday soon became a more pressing problem. The Spurs--coming off a four-game homestand in which they beat Cleveland and Orlando, took Detroit into the final minutes before falling, and lost to Utah--gave the Lakers the same kind of fits. These also lasted into the fourth quarter.

Three consecutive Laker turnovers, followed by Eddie Jones getting his shot blocked inside by Charles Smith, sparked the Spurs to an 8-0 rally that was also worth an 84-78 lead with 4:27 remaining. With two minutes left, San Antonio was up by seven, 88-81.

A tip-in by Jones cut that to five points with 1:48 to play, but that’s as close as the Lakers got. When Dominique Wilkins backed down George McCloud and corkscrewed at the left post for the last of his game-high 28 points, the Spurs had a 90-83 cushion with 50.1 seconds left.