The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 9

LOS ANGELES TIMES WASHINGTON EDITION TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1995 A9 SPORTS Lakers Facing a Real Can of Worms Now Comment ON SPORTS Now They Must Fish or Cut Bait By Mike Downey L. Nick Van Exel goes scoreless in the first half. Elden Campbell goes scoreless in the second half. You catch the San Antonio Spurs on a day without Dennis Rodman and you score a puny 71 points. You catch them without the Worm and you let them off the hook.

And pretty soon it is late Sunday afternoon and you are standing there in the Great Western Morgue, trying to pretend that your basketball season isn't dead. You now must jangle the Spurs not once but twice at the Alam-odome, where no Laker team has won. You are in deep, deep Texas sheepdip, and every last one of you knows it. Cedric Ceballos knows it. "We're a cornered cat," he says.

Of I' Anthony Peeler knows it. he "We've got no excuses now," Pro basketbaH: They came up cold in Sunday's 80-71 loss to the Rodman-less Spurs and fall behind in the playoff series, 3-1 i By SCOTT HOWARD-COOPER, times staff writer They had packed and stacked equipment in the empty I Laker locker room by late afternoon, ready for it to be shipped to San Antonio. That much of the itinerary was set. i When it had to be back, that was the uncertain part. A couple of days? October? That's how close the Lakers are to summer vacation.

They are only one defeat away after losing to the San 1 Antonio Spurs, sans Dennis Rodman, in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, 80-71, in a Sunday matinee before 17,505 at the Forum. The end could come tonight at the Alamodome unless this was the end. "I'm sure some of their guys are saying it's over," Spur Willie Anderson said after San Antonio's lead in the best-of-seven series reached 3-1. "There's no way in the world we are going to let it go at home. I am pretty sure we are going to run away with it when we get them Tuesday." The Lakers brought their own cigarettes and blindfolds Sunday.

San Antonio supplied the t. The Lakers scored 71 points to tie the franchise playoff low, set in Game 1 of the first round against Seattle. They shot 36 and set a postseason record by making only 27 shots, breaking the Laker mark of 28 done several times before. They committed 18 turnovers, including four in five possessions of a critical second-half stretch and the other time a shot was blocked. "Today was really the first time we played like ourselves," said San Antonio center David Robinson, who had 26 points and 22 rebounds.

"We came out in the beginning of the game and really showed some effort on the defensive side. We got everybody together, some rhythm to our offense. I think this is really the first game of the series that we really stepped it up and played the way we are capable of playing." Likewise, the tone was set early on the Laker side: Vlade Divac, going for a follow basket on Nick Van Exel's miss on their first possession, bounced a dunk off the rim. By the end of the opening quarter, they were down 10 points and had shot 28. There was no warming trend in sight.

The Lakers shot 37.5 in the first half, but, amazingly, they were behind only 46-39. A third-quarter rally got them within 50-49 with 5:21 remaining. What a strange time for the, wheels jo Spurs, in the process of going an incredible 9:19 without a basket, held the line by making, five free throws in six tries on their next three trips. The six-point lead provided some breathing room again. Then Eddie Jones charged into Doc Rivers in the back-court, and J.R.

Reid turned that turnover into dunk with 2:18 left. It was San Antonio's first field goal since 11:37 remained. Moments later, Rivers stole the ball from George Lynch, and this time Chuck Person cashed it in for a driving layup. The next possession, Jones' bad pass was intercepted by Sean Elliott. The implosion was almost complete.

All that remained was for Robinson to grab Van Exel's bad pass and for Reid to convert it into another layup. Suddenly, with 43 seconds remaining in the quarter, the Lakers were in an 11-point hole. i "Today," Coach Del Harris lamented later, "our ballhan-dling let us down." It was almost enough to forget about Rodman. Almost In uniform, but held out for the entire game as a disciplinary move after he stayed out of the huddle and got into a verbal exchange with Coach Bob Hill on Friday, he sat at the end of the bench and chatted with fans in the second half. He was passing the time, sometimes leaning back and crossing his legs, one time in the fourth quarter not bothering to join a huddle.

Terry Cummings started in his place and, though he missed eight of 10 shots, grabbed nine rebounds in 33 minutes. Reid compensated for the offense, making five of six shots en route to 15 points in 17 minutes. "They had a little animosity over there and we should have taken advantage of it," Van Exel said. "But we didn't." There's always tonight. Beyond that, who knows? ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times Dodger outfielder Henry Rodriguez slams into wall, dropping a drive that Ray Lankford turned into a double.

Ingram Learns as Dodgers Lose Baseball: Dodger rookie struggles whiles adapting to playing thiril base, and Cardinals take advantage in 6-5 victory. -Ingram is'gbing through. ''He's riot a third baseman and never, has been, he needs a little Wallach said. "He's six games into' playing third base, and I don't care who it is, any athlete would be struggling. It's a completely different position than playing in the middle of the infield.

He's worked at it, but it takes time." The Dodgers led, 1-0, after Delino DeShields' leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning, but Ingram helped the Cardinals tie it at 1-1 in the third when he overthrew Eric Karros on Tripp Cromer's grounder. When Ingram's throw sailed into the photo well alongside the dugout, Cromer went to second and he scored on Bernard Gilkey's two-out single. The Dodgers took a 4-2 lead on Billy Ashley's solo homer in the fourth inning and Raul Mondesi's two-run homer in the fifth. Ingram committed his second error as the Cardinals scored three runs in the eighth inning to chase starter Tom Candiotti. Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said he hopes Ingram doesn't dwell on the errors.

"He's been doing good," Lasorda said. "It's just throwing the ball. Throwing the ball, that's the easiest part of the game. He's made a couple of bad throws. That's happened to a lot of people.

We've just got to make him forget about it." Lasorda would probably rather forget how reliever Antonio Osuna (1-2) performed in the 11th inning. After the score was tied, 5-5, on pinch-hitter Chris Gwynn's RBI single in the eighth inning, Jordan singled in the winning run off Osuna, who has given up 13 earned runs in 13 13 innings. By CHRIS BAKER, TIMES STAFF WRITER Dodger rookie third baseman Garey Ingram was surrounded. He was explaining how difficult it is to learn to play third base after making two errors that led to runs in helping the Dodgers squander a three-run lead in Sunday's 6-5 loss in 11 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals before 29,519 at Dodger Stadium.

"Leave him alone," a teammate shouted. Ingram, who had never played third base until spring training, has committed a team-high eight errors in six starts. The Dodgers entered Sunday's game with the worst fielding percentage (.965) in the major leagues. A converted outfielder, Ingram was moved to second base two years ago in the minors. Moved to third base this season, he's still adjusting.

He's platooning with Dave Hansen while Tim Wallach is on the disabled list. "At third base there's a longer throw to first," said Ingram, who made both errors on throws. "It's more like a react position, whereas at second you have more time to read the ball. You've got to get used to making good throws." Ingram has made five errors in his last three games, including three in Friday night's 8-4 victory over the Cardinals, in which the two teams combined for 12 errors. Wallach, sidelined because of a back injury, knows what says.

Sam Bowie knows it. "Don't count us out," he says, hopefully, "but if we're about to get knocked out, all I can say is, let's go down fighting." Nothing much can save our heroes at the Alamo now, short of a Sam Bowie knife. The Lakers had a shot, but they couldn't hit a thing. They made 27 baskets in 48 minutes. Had Rodman been in the game, he could have gotten 48 rebounds.

In the third quarter alone, three of the Laker starters failed to score a point. Del Harris stood flapping his wings before the fans, trying to whip them into a frenzy. Didn't help. David Robinson fouled out, taking his 26 points and 22 rebounds with him. Didn't help.

The San Antonio bench contributed pne point to the entire first half. Didn't help. The -Wormed Spur made exactly" ohe' three-point Shot in this entire game. Pid not Shoot better without Rodman out there? Not this day. Not the Lakers.

Instead, they shot like Rodman. "We just could not drop it in that hole," Ceballos said. And that is why they find themselves in a fix. That is why the playoffs will continue with Byron Scott in them (for Indiana) and with A.C. Green in them (for Phoenix), but not our other favorite Lakers, not unless they have something up their sleeves other than their 36 shooting arms.

San Antonio came up smelling like a rose. Everything suggested that this team was ready to be taken. Robinson was ready, but Rodman wasn't. 01' Green Hair was back in the doghouse. He had lipped off to the boss Spur.

He had flopped himself on the Forum floor in his stocking feet, watching the end of Friday night's game like a lifeguard on a "Baywatch" beach. That didn't sit well with Robinson, the old Naval watchtower. After concluding his formal post-game interview Sunday, Robinson stood aside and reflected further on Rodman's effect on his team. He said, "I wouldn't go so far as to say but we were disappointed in Dennis. Definitely disappointed.

You've got a coach. You've got to pay attention to that coach. You can't be laying on your back, getting a suntan out there. "When Dennis is playing, you have a tendency to expect him to get every rebound. I'm as guilty as anybody.

A lot of times, I step away and let him have the rebound. But if he's not out there, I can always get the rebound myself. Or Terry Cummings can. Or J.R. Reid can.

We want Dennis to play, but he has to play by the rules. "Nobody could argue with what the coach did." Nobody from San Antonio, maybe. But the Lakers' Ceballos had a different point of view. "You try to put restrictions on that guy Rodman. But you traded for the guy.

You acquired him. You know what he can do, and you know how he does it," Ceballos said. "Just let Dennis be Dennis. Stop trying to make him something he's not." Some people believe the Spurs cannot win an NBA title without Rodman. Others believe they cannot win one with him.

Yes, Robinson did outrebound every Laker player in Sunday's game. But so did Cummings. Yes, the Lakers did not have to worry about Rodman's rebounding. But they also had to guard five shooters, rather than four. "This is a team.

There are certain things a team has to maintain, and one of them is discipline," the Admiral said. "If guys don't abide by the rules, they need to suffer the consequences." Like not playing against the Lakers. Who today are suffering worse. Partial Indianapolis 500 Lineup HOW I Different Indianapolis 500: Brayton Grabs Pole Position Driver Rwldnc Car No. ChatslsEngtr M.P.H 1 Scott Brayton Coldwater, Mich.

No. 60 1 995 Lola-Menard 23 1 .604 2. Arie Luyendyk Netherlands No. 40 1995 Lola-Menard 231.031 3. Scott Goodyear Canada No.

24 1995 Reynard-Honda 230.759 ROW 2 4. Michael AndretU Nazareth, Pa. No. 6 1995 Lola-Ford 229.294 5. Jacques Vllleneuve Canada No.

27 1995 Reynard-Ford 228.397 6. Maurlcio Gugelmin Brazil No. 18 1995 Reynard-Ford 227.923 ROW 3 7. Robby Gordon Orange No. 5 1995 Reynard-Ford 227.531 8.ScottPruett Granite Bay, Ca.

No. 20 1995 Lola-Ford 227.403 9. JlmmyVasser Discovery Bay, Ca. No. 12 1995 Reynard-Ford 227.350 ROW 4 10.

Hlro Matsushita Japan No. 25 1994 Reynard-Ford 226.867 11. Stan Fox Janesvllle. Wis. No.

91 1995 Reynard-Ford 226.588 12. r-AndreRibeiro Brazil No. 31 1995 Reynard-Honda 226.495 ROW 8 13. Roberto Guerrero San Juan Capistrano No. 21 1994 Reynard-Mercedes 226.402 14.

Eddie Cheever Aspen, Colo. No. 14 1995 Lola-Ford 226.314 15. TeoFabl Italy No. 33 1995 Reynard-Ford 225.911 ROW 6 16.

Paul Tracy Canada No. 3 1995 Lola-Ford 225.795 17. Italy No. 34 1994 Lola-Ford 225.753 18. Bryan Herta Valencia 4 1 995 Reynard-Ford 225.55 1 ROW 7 19.

Danny Sullivan Aspen, Colo. No. 17 1995 Reynard-Ford 225.496 20. r-Gii de Ferran Brazil No. 8 1995 Reynard-Mercedes 225.437 21.

HldeshlMatsuda Japan No. 54 1994 Lola-Ford 227.818 ROW 8 22. Bobby Rahal Hilliard, Ohio No. 9 1995 Lola-Mercedes 227.081 23. Raul Boesel Brazil No.

11 1995 Lola-Mercedes 226.028 24. Buddy Lazier Vail, Colo. No, 6QT 1 995 Lola-Menard 226.017 ROW 9 25. r-Eliseo Salazar Chile No. 7 1995 Lola-Ford 225.023 came in and made some changes, but we didn't get to test them," Goodyear said.

"Last-minute changes don't always work, but this time they did. The car was close to being perfectly balanced." No one could match the Saturday speeds of Brayton, a 14-year Indy 500 veteran who ran 231.604 m.p.h. in his Lola-Menard; or Luyendyk, Brayton's Menard teammate, who qualified at 231.031. "My nerves really hit my body when I heard Goodyear's first lap," Brayton said. "Until that moment, I wasn't really nervous because conditions were so different today.

I didn't think anyone could get close to me or Arie, but he gave me a scare." John Menard, the Wisconsin businessman who took 10-year-old Buick V6 passenger car engines and retooled them into racing Menards in his Indianapolis garage, was ecstatic to see his two cars on the front row. "This is a dream come true," he said. "The program started about 2 12 years ago, and Larry Curry, director of racing and Brayton and I spent hours scheming and testing to get where we are today. It took a full 2 12 years. This is our dream, our job, it's what we do.

Some guys play golf. This is what we do." The Menards are not eligible for any of the other 16 PPG Cup Indy car races because of their engine size. Goodyear is contracted to run only the Indy 500, although he said, "This could open something up, but we're not thinking about it until after the 500." BySHAVGLICK, times staff writer INDIANAPOLIS Someone said long ago that the longer you're at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the harder it is to figure out. Take what happened Sunday during qualifying for the May 28 Indianapolis 500, for instance: Scott Brayton, Arie Luyendyk and Scott Goodyear, drivers who don't even have a ride on the Indy car circuit, qualified on the front row, with Brayton on the pole. Penske drivers Al Unser the defending 500 champion, and Emerson Fit-tipaldi, who between them led 193 of 200 laps in last year's race, did not try to qualify on the first weekend.

The fastest last year were too slow this year. Bobby Rahal, who gave up on developing the Honda engine when he couldn't get it up to speed last year, failed to qualify on the first day with his Mercedes-Benz engine but Goodyear used a 1995 model Honda. Rahal qualified later, in 22nd position. Firestone tires, which had not been at Indy for 21 years, were on seven of the 25 cars that qualified, including Goodyear's. Goodyear, who started the year without a ride of any kind because Kenny Bernstein's Indy car team folded after the 1994 season, bumped Michael Andretti off the front row with four laps at 230.759 m.p.h.

in Sunday's continuation of the first-day qualifying that started late Saturday because of rain. "We did 226 in the morning warm-up and r-fww. Find 327. 181 m.pA Tht -cod fer tht 33-c Md 223.479 m.p.n, ut 1992..