GAME 1: Rockets 87, Lakers 83 : L.A., You Have a Problem

Updated list of Laker problems the last five weeks: injuries . . . disappearing players . . . suspensions . . . their aim.

The latest hit Thursday night, about the same time the Houston Rockets’ defense did, tearing at the Lakers in more ways than just the 87-83 loss in Game 1 of the playoffs before 17,505 at the Forum.

The Lakers shot 34.9%, a season low, including 26.3% in the decisive fourth quarter.

They committed 22 turnovers, about eight more than their average.

They seemed lost.

They wondered about their roles. At least the most prominent Laker did.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m rusty,” Magic Johnson said after managing 20 points and 13 rebounds despite going four for 11. “He [Coach Del Harris] has got me playing a different kind of role now. In the first half, he didn’t want me to post at all. In the second half, he said, ‘OK, now post.’

“Now, wait a minute. I’m used to posting. Now he doesn’t want me to post. I’m wavering. I’m going back and forth. It’s a real weird role for me to play when I’m used to something different. Then I tried to turn it on and then it wasn’t there.”

So why the sudden change?

“Well,” Johnson said, “I’m going to just pass on that one.”

It was Johnson who scored the Lakers’ first basket of the fourth quarter, with 11:17 remaining. Then, nothing until Eddie Jones hit a three-point basket with 3:25 left, a span of almost eight minutes that included shots that were blocked, free throws that were missed and turnovers. But no baskets.

Still, they were alive, down 78-74 with three minutes to play. But not for long.

Mario Elie made a three-point shot, a second-chance basket that came after Robert Horry’s offensive rebound. Then Horry grabbed a defensive board when Nick Van Exel missed with a jumper on the ensuing possession, followed by Clyde Drexler making one free throw. It was 82-74 with 1:59 remaining.

The Lakers called time and tried for one last dash. They never even got out of the gate. Johnson’s entry pass was intercepted by Drexler, who sprinted to a breakaway, and back-breaking, dunk.

“Now we put the pressure on them,” Rocket Hakeem Olajuwon said after getting a game-high 33 points. “Now they have to win.”

That would be Saturday afternoon at the Forum in Game 2. They have 36 hours to figure out what went wrong.

“They’re a great playoff team,” Jones said. “But I feel as though if you’ve got homecourt advantage, you’ve got to protect it, I don’t care who the other team is. I thought this was one game we should have won.”

Said Johnson: “They [the Rockets] knew what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it. We were like, ‘How are we going to do this? How are we going to do that?’ When they were just saying, ‘We’re going to do this.’ ”

The first bit of business came before tipoff, when Harris announced the opening lineup he had held in secrecy: Van Exel at point guard and Cedric Ceballos at small forward.

Van Exel over Sedale Threatt was expected, even though Van Exel was playing for the first time in 16 days because of his suspension and Threatt had guided the Lakers to a 6-1 record as the starter in that time. What little doubt may have remained for Harris disappeared when Anthony Peeler suffered the strained calf muscle, meaning Threatt would be needed as the backup shooting guard in addition to his duties at the point.

Choosing between Ceballos and Johnson, however, was filled with options. Ceballos because had been starting after the Achilles’ injury forced Johnson to cut back on minutes and Harris prefers to stay with a hot hand? Ceballos because the Lakers can best take advantage of Johnson’s ability to play either forward spot by bringing him off the bench? Johnson because he had averaged 19.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists in nine starts?

In the end, Harris decided on the option with the most options.

“Obviously, Earvin will play major minutes,” he said. “But I think bringing him off the bench makes the most sense. . . . It’s an easier transition when you start going to the bench. It gives you more flexibility and it’s a role he does really well.”

Then that same bench quickly became a major factor, probably even bigger than Harris could have anticipated. Or did he plan on using both George Lynch and Fred Roberts at shooting guard in the first half?

Jones’ second foul 6 1/2minutes into the game forced his hand. Lynch, making a rare appearance in the backcourt, came in ahead of Threatt because his bigger body was a better matchup against Clyde Drexler, by then already hurting the Lakers on the boards and in transition. Roberts, the small forward recently activated after 36 games on the injured list, got his turn there in the second quarter.

Laker problems grew when Elden Campbell got his third foul with 9:04 remaining before intermission, limiting him to 11 minutes in the first half and 26 in all. The Rockets were hurt in kind when Sam Cassell, their sparkplug off the bench, picked up his third with 10:57 to play in the second, keeping him at 21 for the night.