Riley’s 300th Victory Is One of His Easiest

Laker Coach Pat Riley, who now has 300 wins he wouldn’t have had if he’d stuck to broadcasting with Chick Hearn, made a stab at humility after win No. 300, a 132-100 rout of the Golden State Warriors Sunday night at the Forum.

“I don’t really pay much attention to numbers, but it’s a great honor,” said Riley, who has taken less time to win that many games than any coach in NBA history.

“I’d say this team has won 150 of ‘em on their own, without me.”

And how many games would his players estimate they’ve won on their own?

“About 300,” Riley said with a laugh.

When you’ve been to the NBA finals four times, as Riley has, you can afford to be humble.

Then again, there are nights when it seems all Riley has to do is sit back and watch, cheer, and shake his head--just as a Forum crowd of 14,937 did Sunday.

How do you coach the kind of run the Lakers made at the start of the third quarter, when they outscored Golden State, 23-2, to turn an 11-point halftime lead into a 32-point cushion?

How do you coach the kind of outside shooting displayed by Michael Cooper in the first half, when he scored 20 points, including four three-pointers, or by Byron Scott, who single handedly outscored the Warriors in the third quarter, 20-16?

The Lakers missed only 4 of 24 shots in that 42-point quarter.

This, remember, was against Golden State, who had beaten the Lakers by 10 points three nights earlier and had visions of challenging the Lakers’ Pacific Division supremacy.

The Laker domination was so complete, even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar launched a three-pointer, which rimmed in and out.

“I’ve seen Cap hit that shot four or five times in a row,” said Scott, whose defensive pressure on Eric (Sleepy) Floyd was partial cause of Floyd’s seven turnovers, out of a team total of 22.

Abdul-Jabbar has never made a three-pointer in a game, which is about the only thing he hasn’t done.

“I guess I’m a little bit nuttier in a game or something,” he said, smiling. “It looked good, but it was a little long, I guess.”

It might have been construed as showing up the Warriors, too, but Golden State Coach George Karl didn’t agree.

“It might have bothered me but it was low on the list of things that bothered me,” Karl said.

“They earned the right to rub it in. They played well and they played hard. They earned the right to be in Showtime.”

Scott finished with 26 points to lead the Lakers. Cooper had 24. Chris Mullin had 20 for the Warriors. The other four starters combined for 18 points.

The Warriors, who had collapsed as many as three or four players on Abdul-Jabbar in Oakland Thursday, didn’t get away with that on Sunday, for a couple of reasons:

--They were called for an illegal defense twice in the first eight minutes.

--Much sharper ball movement and, of course, the dead-on outside shoting of the Lakers.

“We exposed their zone early,” said Abdul-Jabbar, who made a point of setting up way outside and gesturing toward Warrior center Joe Barry Carroll, who remained parked in the lane. “They couldn’t do it as blatantly.

“We had to do that,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “If they get to pack guys in the lane, it inhibits everything we do.”

Mullin, who had gone 0 for 9 in Golden State’s loss to Dallas on Saturday, scored 16 points in the first half to keep the Warriors within 11.

But then came the deluge. The Warriors committed 11 turnovers in the third quarter, which the Lakers converted into 14 points, mostly on the fast break.

Scott hit six jumpers, two three-point bombs and ended the quarter by stripping the ball from Warrior guard Perry Moss and going in for a buzzer-beating layup.

“When I picked up Sleepy Floyd I made him turn his back and we got some steals,” Scott said. “It seems every time I play great defense I have a great night.

“They were kind of laying back waiting to see if I would drive, so I just pulled up for the jump shots.”

Laker Notes

None of the Laker starters played in the fourth quarter. Frank Brickowski and Mike Smrek, the Lakers’ Ivory Towers, played the last eight minutes of the game together. . . . Rookie Billy Thompson, the Lakers’ No. 1 pick, scored 10 points, including a jam he had never before attempted in a game, high school, college or pro. Thompson, ahead of the pack, made his last dribble bounce head-high as he took off, executed a reverse spin, and slammed the ball over his head with both hands. Thompson: “I’m glad I made it.” . . . The Lakers made 18 steals, four each by James Worthy and A.C. Green, three by Byron Scott. Green, who scored eight points in the first quarter, finished with 16. He also had 9 rebounds and was matched defensively at times against Golden State center Joe Barry Carroll, who scored just 6 after having 25 against the Lakers on Thursday. . . . Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is now 0 for 12 in career three-point attempts.