Shattered And Shaken

Despite the slings and arrows, the Lakers have not fallen so far behind that they cannot catch everyone but Portland. Last week, with Abdul-Jabbar back and scoring his customary 30 points a game, with Dantley and Wilkes taking much of the frontcourt pressure off Kareem as well as off each other, with rookie Guard Stormin' Norman Nixon showing signs of turning into one of those overnight Hollywood heroes, the Lakers won three of four before losing to the Trail Blazers and ending the week with a 13-18 record.

Los Angeles even beat the Central Division-leading, roughhouse Bullets at their own roughhouse game, 120-115, with Dantley scoring 36 points. "I love L.A. so much," he says. "It's like Notre Dame. Only better socially."

At one point at the beginning of the third quarter, Dantley scored 10 points in four minutes. In response Joe Tripoli, on the organ at the Fabulous Forum, played the Notre Dame fight song. Even that did not come easy for the Lakers. Tripoli recently broke his ankle.