Worthy Steals Game 2 From Rockets : Pro basketball: Forward scores 32 points and makes pivotal play in final minutes as Lakers come back from a 17-point halftime deficit to win, 104-100.

Double-digit deficits do not faze the Lakers, especially in the playoffs. It is almost as if they welcome the challenge, consider it an exhilarating sporting venture to spot a team something like 17 points and then rally to win.

Sunday afternoon, in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Houston Rockets, the Lakers added another significant comeback victory to their lore. They turned a 65-48 halftime deficit into a 104-100 victory before 17,505 fans at the Forum.

“We know that 17 points is nothing to this team,� guard Byron Scott said.

The Lakers, apparently, never think to panic in such situations. They hardly show concern. They just gather their strength, reassert themselves and, most important, make the big plays at big times.

Biggest of all Sunday was James Worthy’s steal--and his resulting dunk--of an Akeem Olajuwon pass that gave the Lakers their first lead, 101-100, since the first quarter. From there, the Lakers sank three of four free throws and stopped the Rockets on three possessions to complete the victory.

This one may not have ranked, numerically, with last spring’s 29-point comeback at Seattle, but the victory was extremely important to the Lakers. They will take a 2-0 lead into Tuesday’s third game at Houston, where the Lakers lost twice during the regular season.

Instead of going to Texas tied in the series, the Lakers sent the Rockets reeling back home wondering how much better they will have to play play to win.

The Rockets did almost everything necessary to win. Olajuwon had a triple-double--11 points, 11 rebounds, 10 blocked shots. Guards Sleepy Floyd and Vernon Maxwell, who combined to shoot just 37% in Game 1, bounced back to combine for 51 of the Rockets’ 100 points. Houston’s defense, while unable to stop Worthy from scoring 32 points, frustrated Magic Johnson and had the rebounding advantage.

Still, the Lakers won.

And the Rockets were not surprised by the turnaround.

“They’re a team that knows how to come back,� said Maxwell, who had 24 points. “We didn’t relax at any time. We played a tough game. You have to execute against these guys. They’ve been there before. They know how to win.�

The Lakers, it seems, have established a standard approach whenever trailing significantly at halftime. They say it is simply to not try to swallow the deficit in one gulp, but to sift it out throughout the second half until it has evaporated.

“We’ve been down by 29 before, and we know how to react,� Worthy said. “This type of game is played in 10-point increments. You try to slowly get it down to 25, then 15, then five and then you’re back in it.

“Seventeen points is not a lot in this league. Never say never. We were down 26 to Atlanta a couple of years ago and 29 to Seattle. I always feel that somehow, some way, we’re going to be there in the end.�

Worthy was there for the Lakers all game, especially in the final minute when his steal and dunk gave them the lead.

If not for Worthy’s 19 first-half points, the Lakers might have found themselves down by more than 17. Even in the fourth quarter, when Rocket Coach Don Chaney put taller and stronger Otis Thorpe on Worthy, the Laker forward found other ways to contribute.

After Worthy had made two free throws to cut Houston’s lead to 100-99 with 1:19 to play, the Rockets went to their half-court set and fed the ball to Olajuwon in the low post. With Vlade Divac leaning on him and Johnson providing a double-team, Olajuwon dipped his left shoulder and lobbed a pass in Maxwell’s direction at the top of the key.

Worthy, sagging into the key as part of the Lakers’ weakside defense, seemed poised to steal the pass even before Olajuwon let it go. He stepped in front of Maxwell, intercepted the pass and dunked for a 101-100 Laker lead.

Ever observant, Worthy said he had noticed several times that Olajuwon made the same pass to Maxwell when double-teamed. It was a matter, Worthy said, of choosing the time and place for the theft.

“It’s kind of a gamble situation,� Worthy said. “I figured if I made it earlier, they’d adjust to it and I wouldn’t be able to do it again. I don’t like to gamble that much, but (Olajuwon) didn’t throw it as crisp and sharp as other centers do. I got a good view of it.�

And Rocket players got a good view of Worthy’s back heading to the basket, taking their hopes of an upset with him.

Twice now, the Rockets have blown double-figure first-half leads. Or, rather, the Lakers have yanked the leads away. Either way, it has Houston thinking about what might have been.

“Had we shot as well in the first game as we did today, it could’ve been a win for us in that game,� Chaney said, “because I thought the Lakers could be had in that first game. They weren’t ready to play. Today, even though we took the big lead, they were ready.

“When you play in a tough series like this, the small intangibles become key factors. We did not capitalize on those intangibles. We had a couple of shots and turnovers down the stretch that hurt us. The Lakers capitalize, and that’s what separates the Lakers from the Rockets right now.�

A prominent example came with about two minutes left.

Divac, whom Coach Pat Riley went with in place of Mychal Thompson at the end, blocked Olajuwon’s turnaround jump shot. The Rockets regained possession, however, when Magic Johnson lost the ball trying to force it inside.

But Orlando Woolridge stole it back and, this time, the Lakers capitalized. Woolridge missed the layup, but Divac trailed close behind and dunked the rebound to cut Houston’s lead to 98-97 with 1:43 left.

The Lakers also seized an opportunity with 54 seconds to play, on Houston’s next possession after Worthy’s steal. Maxwell missed a jump shot from the wing, and a scramble for the long rebound ensued. Johnson stepped in front of Otis Thorpe to grab it.

“Our guys have been there before,� Riley said. “They are experienced. They won the game. Houston did not lose it. There were a lot of little things that were big. Like, James was peeping at that pass on the weakside the whole game, and he waited for the right time to (steal) it.�

There were, however, a few big things that went wrong for the Lakers in falling behind by 17 points.

Except for Worthy, they are not playing consistently well. Johnson had 17 points and 14 assists, but he made just seven of 16 shots and had problems guarding Maxwell.

Scott, who made just three of 13 shots in Game 1, made one of six in the first half Sunday. But he found his offense in the third quarter, scoring 13 of his 17 points in that span. Included were three three-point shots.

The Laker defense did another creditable job of limiting Olajuwon’s scoring. After scoring just 13 points in Game 1, Olajuwon was held to 11 Sunday. But Maxwell and Floyd, cold in the first game, shot a combined 61.7% in Game 2.

The excitement of the rally notwithstanding, Riley and his players say they might not want to attempt another such comeback Tuesday night.

“We never feel we’re going to lose,� Johnson said. “We hung in there and the lead came down. We made the plays to win the game. But we’ve got to come out (in Game 3) and play that way in the beginning. We’ve got to play like we did in the second half.�

Laker Notes

Sunday’s playoff victory was Laker Coach Pat Riley’s 100th. He passed Boston’s Red Auerbach to become the NBA’s all-time victory leader. . . . It was the Lakers’ 20th consecutive first-round playoff victory. . . . Akeem Olajuwon’s 10 blocks equaled a playoff record. . . . The Rockets’ largest lead was 19 points, 65-46, just before the end of the first half.