It Simply Keeps Getting Harder to Take a Cotton to the Forum

It’s not that Cotton Fitzsimmons can’t win a game in the Forum. As recently as February 17, 1974, he brought the Hawks here to play the Lakers and actually beat the home team.

Back then, Cotton was 6-foot-4 and had hair like Elvis Presley. Now he’s 5-8 and the hair he has is fright white. This league can wear you down. The Lakers can wear you down.

“What is it about the Forum?� Cotton mused after consecutive loss No. 35, a streak covering 15 years and five Cotton-coached teams. “Maybe it’s haunted.�

That’s certainly a more interesting theory than the prevailing one, which is that Cotton keeps bringing teams here that aren’t quite as good as the local five.

The streak has stretched out so long that it fades in Cotton’s mind, the losses stacking up in his memory like derailed freight cars.

Any close calls these last 15 years, Cotton?

“My personal streak?� he said rhetorically. He shook his head, drifting down bad-memory lane. “Some of the players I coached here are dead.�

When Magic Johnson received his MVP trophy in a pregame presentation ceremony, he grabbed the mike, spoke briefly and then said: “I’m holding up the game. Let’s go ahead and get down to business.�

You could almost see Cotton cringe. The Lakers getting down to business, especially in the Forum, tends to be fatal. Fitzsimmons himself has died here many times.

A lot of Laker fans, especially the younger ones, can’t remember the last time their team lost a game in this building, or any other building.

Tuesday night it was Lakers 101, Suns 95.

The Lakers trailed by eight late in the third quarter, but that lasted only a few minutes, until early in the fourth when Orlando Woolridge scored on a drive to put the Lakers ahead for good.

“Pat (Laker coach Riley) kept emphasizing the point not to panic,� said Byron Scott.

Panic? Down by a mere 8 in the third quarter, there’s even a remote thought of a Laker panic? These guys spotted Seattle 29 points and blew by the Sonics with ease.

Panic? When the Lakers are eight points down to Phoenix, in Phoenix, with four seconds left and Magic Johnson fouled out, maybe then it will be time to panic.

Why panic when you’re the world champions playing at the top of your game?

Byron Scott, for instance, scored 30 points, to win his personal duel with Sun point guard Kevin Johnson, who scored 22, but only four in the second half.

“When Byron’s really on,� Fitzsimmons said, “they’re good, they’re awfully tough to beat.�

Scott was mostly on. With 4:30 left he stole a Sun pass and turned it into a layup. The Suns scored the next four to cut the Laker lead to six with 3:45 left, then Scott drove across the key and hit a fall-away 10-footer while being knocked on his back.

Three Lakers rushed over, led by Magic Johnson, and set upon Scott with a vengeance. From afar it looked like Scott’s teammates were pummeling him, but replays showed they were administering low, low fives and 10s before helping Scott to his feet.

“We had to do something to get fired up,� Scott said. “The game was intense but there wasn’t a lot of emotion.�

There was a lot of defense, though. The Lakers held the Suns to 14-for-43 shooting in the second half. Tom Chambers, hounded by Worthy, had another off night, hitting 8 of 23 shots from the floor.

Just about any time the Lakers win a big game, you can blame it on their defense. Scott and Michael Cooper, for instance, simply worked ultra-dangerous Kevin Johnson to a frazzle.

“I got a little tired in the second half,� Kevin Johnson said. “I have to find a way to pick spots so I can control it for 48 minutes. I wasn’t able to sustain it.�

That’s a common theme of Laker opponents over the last month. The Lakers have won their last 14 games, including nine in the playoffs. Cotton Fitzsimmons isn’t the only coach who has trouble with the Forum ghosts. He simply has more practice at it, and therefore is able to maintain a sense of humor about the situation.

Besides, he likes the way his guys have played, he thinks the series could turn right around in Phoenix next weekend.

Commenting on Eddie Johnson’s 2-for-12 shooting night, Fitzsimmons said, “When we get over in that hot desert sun, he’ll knock ‘em in.�

However, the Phoenix arena is air-conditioned, just like the Forum, and is not haunted.

It’s a far kinder place to Cotton than is the Forum, but the feeling persists that for Fitzsimmons and his gutty ballclub, the time for panic is fast approaching.