Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 54

In a pinch, Pistons go to liewheres Hm fines shaded ia (ra The Elsewheres .1 Sun. I Mow. I Tin. I Wed. I Thu.

I FrT Sat p4 6 10 Finals t. 109, 5et. 108. LAL9T LAL105 i 12 13 14 "IT" L-LAL LAL LAL 3:30 9:00 9:00 TV TV TV 18 19 20 21 11 23 2 HAL LAlJ lf 3:30 9:00 needed y.y.y,- iiiiiii MIN REBFG PPG Salley 2 19.0 2.0 .677 6.5 Laimbeer 2 17.5 6.5 .429 3.0 Rodman 2 26.S 8.5 .750 3.0 Mahorn- 2 21.0 5.0 .286 2.0 but bound to be overshadowed. Especially as-long as the team continues to win this playing as if it has two brains.

"It does seem that way," Johnson said with a laugh. "It seems like our big guys keep getting our defense going with big plays, blocked shots or a big steal. Then the guards get the offense going at the other end." No problem, the forwards say. Glad to help you guys out. Really.

Honest. Gulp in all that glory. These are '80s men, after all. These frontcourt guys read Gentlemen's Quarterly, Esquire. They know what Significant Others are.

And so far, they know, people are acting as if it's not them. "Nooo-ho-ho-ho," Rodman said, fluttering his eyelids, rolling his eyes back in his head. "Gawd Ahmighty, no." "I'm gonna wear these new sneakers tomorrow Air 'Horns!" Mahorn "I'm gonna dunk like Rodman. Whoosh. I'm gonna fly around that court." "I can hear it now in Game 3," Salley said.

"Hey, that Pistons guard had 38 points! And his man only had six! He outscored his man, 38-6! Becaaaause? "Because," Rodman and Salley chimed in together, "that other guard got all his shots blocked at the other end!" Which is neither here nor there. Just Elsewheres. BY JOHNETTE HOWARD Free Press Sports Writer INGLEWOOD, Calif. So guards Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas and Vinnie Johnson have hoisted the Pistons' offense onto their shoulders and towed the team along to a 2-0 lead going into Game 3 today in these NBA Finals? Forgotten Pistons frontcourt players like center Bill Laimbeer say they do not fret about their low scoring averages. They do not worry.

Laimbeer says it's all part of being one of the "Elsewheres." Come again? "My role is to rebound, play defense and then maybe score," Laimbeer said. "But when our guards are going this well, there aren't many plays left over for me. When they're not going so well, well then, that's when we start looking to go elsewhere. "And," Laimbeer said, "I'm one of the Elsewheres." Which isn't exactly like being one of the Coasters. It's just that burying any offensive urges (beyond those forearms Lakers forward A.C.

Green keeps taking to the chops) has been the prudent thing to do for Laimbeer and forwards Rick Mahorn, John Salley and Dennis Rodman while the Pistons' guards ripped the Lakers for 65 of Detroit's 109 points in Game 1, then 72 of 108 points in Game 2. "Besides," Laimbeer said, slipping into Obviously we've got to take a couple things away. And we will." In that dire emergency, Salley and Rodman joke, they have the antidote: themselves. The Elsewheres. After all, at one point during this six-week playoff march, Salley had the leading field-goal percentage of all players whose teams had survived.

And during the regular season, Rodman led the league in the same category. But they've put that all aside now. For the good of the team, of course. Or something like that. "HEY!" Salley said.

"Whatever happened with going with the percentages? Huh? I was 4-for-4 the other night in Game 2. Put that in. And Dennis? Dennis can forget it. The only time he gets a chance to score is when he's running downcourt, three guys are in front of him and the guard passes the ball to him and says: 'Now. (Salley, by the way, said it was just a coincidence that he stepped on Thomas' left hand once broken, now healing during the final happy seconds of the Pistons' series-clinching win over Chicago in the Eastern Conference finals.

Honest. Really.) But all of this is still OK, the Pistons' big men insist. They know their roles. As long as the guards keep scoring, the big men know the dirty work they're doing at the other end of the court choking off the Lakers' scorers, rebounding, blocking shots and hitting the floor for loose balls is important that famous pout, feigning indignation, "we've only got one play for me anyway. And we hardly ever call it" Considering that Laimbeer's shooting hand went numb during Game 2, that may not be a bad stratagem.

But how do you explain poor Salley and Rodman? Yeah, yeah, the two admit, Dumars has firmly established himself as the early favorite to win the finals' Most Valuable Player award. Thomas is scoring plenty and again setting the team standard for grit, playing through a stiff hamstring, a cut alongside his left eye, a cut knee. And Johnson has been his usual combustible self, rattling in jumpers and driving to the hoop with acrobatic zeal. At times, this trio has been so dominant that Lakers coach Pat Riley joked Saturday, "It's like we're playing the Pavlov theory of defense. I've never see three guards drool like these three guards have drooled.

Looks grim, Magic says; Rodman ails 'Y 4h V. small forward ease Magic's pain by Drew sharp "Free Press Sports Writer INGLEWOOD, Calif. During the Los Angeles lLakers' practice Saturday, there was speculation that if IMagic Johnson plays today 'it would be primarily at Ismail forward rather than point guard. Such a switch jwould mean less wear on his injured left hamstring. It also would mean that forward James Worthy "would play more at shooting guard, where he has Tplayed before.

Defensively, Johnson could guard Bill Xaimbeer, who will be on the perimeter. "I think the only surprise we could get from Magic would be if was completely unable to play," Joe Dumars "He plays several positions at the same time 'anyway. I've seen him play center once and win the NBA championship (1980, in the sixth and final game against Philadelphia). I Johnson normally posts up the opponent's guards. IMark Aguirre could draw the defensive assignment of checking Johnson should Magic move to small forward.

Pistons assistant coach Brendan Suhr doesn't antici-pate the Lakers making such a radical change. "If I Magic's not at the point, then there goes their fast Ibireak," he said. "Are they going to put that pressure (rookie point guard David) Rivers? I don't think so." MORE INJURY UPDATE: Laimbeer's right arm has gotten stronger and he hopes his shooting touch will return. arm has been weakened because of a pinched nerve in his neck. "It feels much better than it did Friday," Laimbeer said.

"Hey, I was taking it to (James) Edwards all day long in practice." Isiah Thomas also practiced; he has been bothered by a Ipulled right hamstring. Aguirre Bangs The Boards: Perhaps the biggest Isurprise of Aguirre's play in the finals has been his 16 rebounds in the first two games one shy of the 'series-leading 17 boards by Dennis Rodman and A.C. "I've always thought that my rebounding is an underestimated part of my game," Aguirre said. "I don't think I'm up there at Worm's level as a rebound-err but I can hold my own." 'IT'S COOPER PREDICTS: Michael Cooper predicted that the Lakers would rally to win this series despite the possibility that Johnson and guard Byron Scott could not play. "It's going to be one of the dramatic wins in NBA history," Coop said.

"All this Detroit team has done was hold serve to go up 2-0 by winning their home games. We're not a team that counts on moral victories, but we definitely got one Thursday. The way we played when Magic went down was deserving of a pat on the back." i DANTLEY ON TV AT HALFTIME: Former Piston Adrian Dantley will be interviewed live at halftime today on CBS-TV, Channel 2 in Detroit. Game time is 3:30 p.m. Dantley was traded to the Dallas Mavericks Feb.

15 for Aguirre. Dantley will be. in Washington, D.C., his hometown. GETTING TECHNICAL In Game 2, the Pistons scored three points on technical fouls called against LA and won by three. The Lakers were called for four illegal defenses, Detroit for one.

In basic terms, a defender on the side of the court away from the ball cannot leave his area for more than 2.9 seconds unless he double-teams the player with the ball. A team receives a warning for the first violation. Each subsequent violation gives the opponent one technical foul shot. Free Press wires contributed to this report. i YT.

tt liADi Trnnn i an Backup center James Edwards, 7-feet-l, works on his drive to the basket in practice Saturday against 6-6 guard Fennis Dembo. If Magic rests, Rivers must get into flow PISTONS, from Page IE be at half-speed. "I'm not a decoy and I won't go in for a minute to charge the fans up," Magic said. "I'd rather hurt it playing hard than play soft. My mind just won't let me go halfrspeed." Johnson was injured in the third quarter of Thursday night's 108-105 loss to the Pistons, who lead the series, 2-0.

If neither Johnson nor Scott can play, Lakers coach Pat Riley must decide whether to start Michael Cooper and Tony Campbell in the back-court or move forward James Worthy to guard and start Orlando Woolridge at forward. "I don't know yet," Riley said. "There are a lot of alternatives. I could go big or small." Rodman was in his hotel room Saturday when the spasms struck an hour before practice. "I can't run at all right now," he said.

"I don't know why it happened. I wondered if maybe I had slept wrong last night. I was all set to come out there and really start running, and then it hit me." Rodman grabbed seven rebounds in Game 2 the first time in six games he wasn't in double figures. Several times, he winced in pain after going up for rebounds. "I'm sure it's going to be hurting bad for the rest of the series," Rodman said.

"But I'm going to have to block it out as much as I can. I just have to be healthy enough to play 3Va quarters. I don't play the first six minutes anyway, so that won't matter. "There's no way that I wouldn't play. I get restless not being able to practice.

I might try to sneak out there for a bit. You know there's no way. anybody's going to keep me out Sunday." The Lakers probably wished they could have gotten the same confident response from Johnson and Scott who has yet to play in this series and is in worse shape than Magic. "I don't know what my chances are," Scott said. "I have to wait and see." "It doesn't look good for either one of them for Sunday," Lakers trainer Gary Vitti said.

"Right now, I'd say that it's unlikely that they would be ready. They didn't run so it's very hard to gauge at what level of performance they could be at." Scott and Johnson will be re-exam- -ined by team physician Dr. Robert Kerlan 90 minutes before tip-off. A decision will be made then, but Scott practically eliminated any hope of his, playing in Game 3. "I can still feel it if I stand up too quickly or if I move too fast," he said.

"That doesn't sound like anyone who, has a good chance of playing, but you never know what may happen in the next 24 hours. I'm praying for a mir acle." Immediately after Johnson left for home, where Vitti treated him through the evening. "I haven't been given the OK to do anything so I really don't know what I can do," Johnson said. "Every time I think about it, the thing hurts even more." "He'll be there," Isiah Thomas said. "He's going to do whatever it takes.

He'll give it all and I think the Lakers will benefit from whatever he gives them." "We are preparing as if Magic is playing Daly said. "I don't think you, can do anything else," Free Press wires contributed to this, report. A. agio's shoes are very, very big, by Corky Meinecke Free Press Sports Writer INGLEWOOD, Calif. Though nothing has changed for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals the Pistons lead, 2-0, in games, the Lakers, 2-0, in left-hamstring injuries coach Pat Riley and the remaining 10 healthy players were surprisingly optimistic Saturday and I only wear a 12.7 Michael Cooper PLAYOFF STATISTICS morning alter practice at Loyola Marymount University.

"That's because everybody is going to get to play," Lakers guard Michael Cooper said, looking ahead to Game 3 of the best-of-seven series today at the DOWN AND OUT? The Pistons put history on their side with their two victories over the Lakers. Only four NBA teams have won seven-game series after trailing, 2-0. It has happened only twice In the NBA Finals. The details: 1068-69: In a Western Division semifinal, Los Angeles dropped Games 1 and 2 at home against San Francisco. But the Lakers featuring Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor won the next four games, Including a 40-polnt blowout (118-78) on the Warriors' court In Game 6.

1968-69: After the Lakers beat Atlanta In five games, they beat Boston In Games 1 and 2 of the finals. But the Celtics won Games 3 and 4 at Boston Garden (by a total of seven points) and eventually took the series In seven games. 1970-71: In the Eastern Conference finals, Baltimore lost Games 1 and 2 at New York but won the series In seven games. In the title series, Milwaukee swept the Bullets. 1976-77: In the finale, Philadelphia won Games 1 and 2 on Its court, but Portland captured the next four.

Bill Walton's Trail Blazers won Game 3 by 22 points and Game 4 by 32. The 76ers led by Julius Ervlng, George McGlnnis and World B. Free (then simply Lloyd Free) scored 107 points In Games 1, 2, 3 and 6. Forum. Everybody moms are going to get to David Rivers see them play on CBS." Through Saturday Pistons (13-2) PLAYER MIN FQ-FOA FOS FT -FT A FT REB A A VP Thomas 15 37.2 101-250 .404 60-81 .741 4.5 8.5 17.9 Dumars 15 36 5 89-199 .447 67-77 .870 2.7 6.7 16.4 Aguirre 15 27.7 88-171 .515 26-36 .722 4.6 1,7 14.0 Johnson 15 21.7 78-178 .438 42-53 .792 2.4 2.4 13.9 Laimbeer 15 29.2 57-127 .449 19-24 .792 8.8 1.S 9.7 SaHey 16 23.3 51-89 .573 33-49 .673 4.9 0 3 9.0 Edwards 15 18.5 36-75 .480 35-42 .833 2.0 0.7 7.1 Rodman 15 24 5 33-59 .559 18-29 .621 9.8 0.9 5.6 Mahorn 15 20.3 32-56 .652 13-20 .650 6.1 0.4 6.1 Long 4 2 0 1-1 1.00 3-3 1.00 0.0 0.0 1.3 DembO 2 2.0 1-1 1.00 0-0 0.00 0.0 0.0 1.0 Williams 4 1.5 0-0 .000 2-2 1.00 0.6 0.6 0 5 Prions 15 667-1208 .469 447 7i.i 99.4 Opp.

16 609-1142 .446 37.6 20.6 91.6 Three-point gotta: Johnson 10-22 Laimbeer 13-39 Aguirre 8-29 Thomas 7-27 Dumars 1-11 Edwards 0-1 Rodman 0-3 Totals 39-132 Opponents: 39-138 Lakers (11-2) PLAYER MIN FQ-FOA FQS FT -FT A FTH REB A AVO Worthy 13 39.4 127-226 .562 61-65 .785 7.0 2.7 23.5 Scott 11 36.5 79-160 .494 46-55 .836 4.1 2.3 16.9 Johnson 13 39.6 65-172 .494 78-86 .907 9.4 12.6 19.9 Thompson 13 25.5 59-112 .527 3441 .667 6.1 0.6 11.7 A-Jabbar 13 22.2 56-120 .467 24-36 .686 3.3 1.1 10.5 Green 13 32 8 42-103 .408 61-63 .810 9.0 1.3 10.4 Wootridge 13 17.9 32-64 ,500 36-62 ,692 4.5 1.0 7.7 Cooper 13 24 6 27-61 .443 18-21 .857 2.8 3.8 6.8 Campbell 7 9.9 14-24 .683 9-13 .692 1.1 0.4 6.6 Lamp 3 2 7 3-5 .600 0-0 .000 0.7 0.3 2.0 Rrrers 4 2 5 1-1 1.00 6-5 1.00 0.6 0.6 1 8 McNamara 2 3.0 1-2 .600 1-2 .600 0.6 0.0 1.6 Lakers 13 626-1050 ,601 42.7 26,6 111.6 Opp. II 850-1160 .466 41.6 25.1 105,2 court of Cooper and former Piston Tony Campbell, with Rivers and Jeff Lamp being the third and fourth guards off the bench, respectively. Cooper and Rivers did just fine when Johnson first injured his left hamstring in February around All-Star time. The Lakers were 3-2 without Johnson. In that stretch, Cooper averaged 8.5 assists, Rivers 6.8 points and 3.2 assists.

One of the losses came at home to the Pistons, so Rivers does have some experience against Thomas, Dumars and Vinnie Johnson. "I used the time I had against them very well," he said. Riley had planned to use Rivers after Johnson was injured in Game 2, but lost his nerve after a nine-point Lakers' lead quickly disappeared. Riley instead stuck with Cooper, who played all but four minutes. Cooper responded with 19 points, but at 33 he may not be able to sustain it over the next two games.

"Magic's shoes are very, very big, and I only wear a 12," Cooper said. And Rivers wears booties. Still, he has the quickness to stay with Thomas, Dumars and Johnson. And if Campbell can average 13.5 points and shoot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) against the Pistons, who's to say Rivers can't make a contribution? "I'm just not going to acknowledge the pressure," Rivers said. "I'm not going to put any kind of burden on myself.

I've been sitting on the bench watching the game, and I feel I can make a difference. And I'm going to try to do that tomorrow." But just the same, "Magic better be And David Rivers can't wait to say, "Hi, Mom." Should neither Magic Johnson nor Byron Scott be healthy enough to play, Riley will have little choice but to turn to Rivers, a rookie point guard from Notre Dame. And if Johnson does play, there was speculation he might move to small forward to save wear and tear. That, too, would require Riley to insert Rivers into the lineup. Rivers didn't play in the first two games of the series, has accumulated just 10 playoff minutes and appeared in just six of the Lakers' last 25 regular-season games.

That's certainly no way to prepare for Pistons guards Isiah Thomas, Vinnie Johnson and Isiah Thomas, who combined for 65 points in Game 1 and 72 points in Game 2. Rivers, in fact, had his hands full with Pistons rookie Michael Williams in the Los Angeles Summer the pressure and I hope to make the most of it." Magic Johnson, injured Thursday in the third quarter of Game 2, isn't sure of his status "because they haven't let me do anything," he said. Scott's hamstring, injured Monday in practice, is healing', "but there's no way for me to speed up the process, and it's disappointing," he said. Lakers trainer Gary Vitti said he doubts that either Johnson or Scott will play, and Riley said he's "preparing for the worst." The worst, one would assume, is a starting back- League last July. "I don't envy him at all," Williams said.

Nevertheless. "I think I'm going to enjoy hfincr in this situation." said Rivers, the Three-point goals: Campbell 2-3 Cooper 17-40 (.4251, Soott 16-39 1.385). Johnson 10-35 Worthy 1-5 Green 0-2 Totals 45-124 Opponents: 31-110 Lakers' top pick (25th overall) in the 1988 NBA draft. I ve been in this situation before, but not at this level. I like the attention, I like there, Rivers said, smiling..