Lakers Beat Suns as Green Gets In His Shots, 114-102

PHOENIX â€”  Pat Riley figures that it would be a good idea if A.C. Green went home and watched himself on videotape more often.

If he did that, the Laker coach said, maybe Green would see that he could have more nights like Friday, when he scored 25 points in the Lakers’ 114-102 win over the Phoenix Suns.

There’s a serious glitch in that plan, however: Green doesn’t own a VCR. And his television is back in Portland.

“My roommate has a TV,� Green said, “but to tell you the truth, we only watch about three to five hours a week. The late-night news, maybe, but I’m usually in bed by 10.

“We don’t have cable. I’ll watch some church programs, some financial news, but I don’t watch soap operas--’Dallas’ or ‘Dynasty,’ shows like that.�

It was Riley’s concern that Green may have been spending too much time watching the opposition forwards in action--guys like New Jersey’s Buck Williams, Atlanta’s Kevin Willis, Indiana’s Steve Stipanovich, Dallas’ Mark Aguirre, Seattle’s Tom Chambers--all of whom have had big games against the Lakers in the last couple of weeks.

With that in mind, Riley held a meeting with his power forwards--Green, Kurt Rambis and Frank Brickowski.

“I challenged them as a group,� Riley said, “. . . (and) tonight, I think we did some things defensively that we haven’t been doing lately--taking guys out of their comfortable position, guys like (Larry) Nance and (Walter) Davis.�

Nance finished with 18 points but made just 6 of 14 shots while blowing a few layups. Davis had 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting.

Green also had been struggling offensively, but Magic Johnson--who had a season-high 19 assists--had the antidote for that malady. It didn’t hurt, of course, that Green hit his first eight shots and finished with 9 of 11 from the floor and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line.

“They were double-teaming me an awful lot, especially his (Green’s) man,� said Johnson, who in one stretch of the third quarter--when the Lakers turned a 54-48 halftime lead into a 89-72 bulge--got in on 9 of 11 Laker baskets, assisting on eight and making one himself.

“A.C. was open, but usually he doesn’t shoot it, and that’s when we quit throwing it to him. He’s always looking to swing it, but we kept telling him, ‘Shoot, shoot,’ and tonight he was making it.

“That’s what we needed him to do along. If he starts making that shot, it’ll be hard for teams to double-team me or James or Kareem,� Johnson said, referring to James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

A peek at a few videotapes, and Green could see that for himself, Riley said.

“Teams have adapted to him, and he wasn’t making the adjustment himself--he wasn’t taking advantage of the way teams ignore our power forwards,� Riley said.

“Tonight, he was very quick in making the decision to shoot.�

And he was hitting from outside, too, in a range (15 to 18 feet) that he says he’s comfortable with putting the ball up.

Green had scored fewer than 10 points in 8 of the last 12 games before this one, in which he came within a point of his National Basketball Assn. high of 26 that he scored against Portland on Dec. 18.

“Scored a lot? So what? Let’s go home,� said a teasing Johnson, who had 15 points, only the second time in the last 15 games he has scored fewer than 20.

“Before you’d want to run right out of here--now you want to do interviews.�

Green replied that he had to move away from Magic, just to get away from the nightly crowd waiting on the Laker star.

“But since you’re shooting now,� Magic said, “maybe it won’t be so big no more. You’ll be the one doing the interviews.�

There’ll be plenty of interviews to go around, of course--there always are with winners. And the Lakers are now 34-10, winning six of eight games played in eight different cities in a 13-day stretch.

“That’s a very difficult club to play,� said Phoenix Coach John MacLeod, whose own team broke 100 only because garbage time came early--the Lakers led, 101-80, with 6:33 to play.

“They have so darn many weapons.�

Now if they could only find another VCR. . . .

“I’ll probably go out and get one,� Green said.

Laker Notes

Grant Gondrezick, the Phoenix rookie from Pepperdine, hasn’t been the same since the fight he had with Frank Brickowski of the Lakers on Jan. 2 in the Forum, according to Phoenix General Manager Jerry Colangelo. “He was hit in the neck and hurt his esophagus,� Colangelo said. “He had difficulty swallowing, couldn’t eat and lost weight.� There was nothing wrong with Gondrezick Friday night--he made all six of his shots from the floor and scored 13 points off the bench. . . . Brickowski has appealed the $2,500 fine he was assessed after the fight and last week sent letters to NBA President David Stern and director of operations Rod Thorn that contained statements from teammates Wes Matthews and Mike Smrek. . . . Laker guard Byron Scott is thinking of skipping next week’s Long Distance shootout in Seattle, a competition that is part of All-Star weekend activities. “It means something to have the chance to prove you’re the best three-point shooter in the league, and the money’s nice,� Scott said, “but I don’t think anything can take the place of being with your family. We’ve been gone so much the last two months, and we just had a little girl in December, I haven’t had a chance to spend some time with her.� Scott skipped last season’s competition to get married. . . . Michael Cooper, who also is entered in the shootout, said he and Scott would split any prize money they win. First prize is worth $12,500. . . . The Lakers don’t play again until Monday, when they’re home against the Dallas Mavericks in the Forum. . . . Mike Smrek had six more points Friday night, giving him a dozen in two games. . . . Kurt Rambis fouled out in 17 minutes, drawing his fifth and sixth personals seven seconds apart in the fourth quarter while battling Ed Pinckney for position. . . . The Lakers were outrebounded by the Suns, 37-34, the sixth time in the last seven games they’ve been outrebounded.