Now Scott Has Appreciation of the Old Days

If signing with the Lakers last September was like coming home for Byron Scott, this really makes it official. He’s back in the playoffs.

Getting this far was always something of an assumption in his first 12 seasons, with the Lakers and then for two years as a member of the Indiana Pacers. But the spring of 1996 changed all that, such is life with the Vancouver Grizzlies.

So Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Forum was probably more meaningful to him than most players. Check that. The entire postseason is probably more meaningful.

“It seems like a long time since I’ve been back there,” said Scott, who Friday tied James Worthy for fifth place in team history with 143 playoff appearances. “It’s been since we [the Pacers] played the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals in ’95. It’s only one year away, but it seems like four or five years ago.

“It makes you appreciate and respect this opportunity a lot more. My first five or six years, we expected to win the championship. But when you miss a year, it’s like you miss a lot more than that. I appreciate this moment now, no matter how far we go. I’m going to savor every game.”

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The playoffs begin with four officials, included highly regarded Jess Kersey and Mike Mathis, unable to work because they are on paid leave after being an income tax probe. But Laker Coach Del Harris, for one, said he isn’t worried about the quality of refereeing for the most important games of the season.

“I’m not concerned for the playoffs as much,” Harris said. “There’s a lot of good refs. I’d be more concerned over the course of a season because there are so many games. If you lose referees for the long run, it could be a problem.

“We’re losing some quality refs now, but the fact is, you don’t need as many referees in the playoffs, particularly after the first round.”

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Portland’s Rumeal Robinson has extra incentive to beat the Lakers. Not because they traded him to Phoenix in the Robert Horry-Cedric Ceballos deal, eventually to be released by the Suns and signed by the Trail Blazers.

Because he grew up in Massachusetts a Celtic fan.

“I can’t say the Lakers will ever be just another team,” said Robinson, a reserve guard. “Ever since I was a little kid, they’ve never been just another team.”