Utah Game Isn’t Personal Now

Greg Foster?

Oh, yeah. Him.

Foster is suddenly the second-biggest target for the Lakers today, almost an afterthought.

Times sure have changed. Three weeks ago, they labeled the Utah Jazz center as future prey after his throat-cutting motion during victory at the Delta Center and, set upon revenge, talked of the regular-season finale as a debt to be repaid. Something about Foster needing to cover his throat this time.

And then the strangest thing happened. Today became about a different kind of revenge, about the Lakers getting the opportunity to claim a Pacific Division title once long gone and quieting the ghosts of 1997, when they had a chance to win the crown on the last day and fell in the final seconds at Portland.

The odds are still against them, though maybe not much more than what it took to get in this position, needing Seattle to lose three times in the last six games, including twice to San Antonio. It will not only take the Lakers beating the Jazz today, but also Portland beating Seattle at the Rose Garden, one game after the Trail Blazers lost to Denver.

“Can a team that has beaten Utah three times beat Seattle?” Laker Coach Del Harris said of his new best friends, the Trail Blazers. “Yeah, I think they could. But they also lost to Denver, so I don’t know.”

If the Lakers and SuperSonics both win to finish with 61 wins, Seattle owns the tiebreaker and would therefore get the crown, the No. 2 spot in the playoff brackets and a first-round meeting with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers would get No. 3 and the Trail Blazers, starting Friday at the Great Western Forum.

*

Michael Jordan all but clinched the scoring title by scoring 44 points Saturday against the New York Knicks. Shaquille O’Neal needs 59 today to beat him.

TODAY

vs. Utah

* 12:30

* Channel 4

Site--Great Western Forum.

Radio--KLAC (570).

Records--Lakers 60-21, Jazz 62-19.

Record vs. Jazz--2-1.

Update--The Lakers joined the SuperSonics, Jazz and Bulls as 60-game winners, marking the first time in league history that four teams have reached that milestone.

Tickets--Sold out.