When He’s in Garden, Scott Is All Thumbs

BOSTON — You’ve heard of Red on Roundball?

Thursday night, it was Byron on Basketball Bouffe .

That was Byron Scott, the Laker shooting guard who missed 7 of 10 shots, jammed a layup into the under side of the rim, got called for an elbowing technical foul . . .

And then, for his last act, he trashed a 3-on-1 fast break at a key juncture early in the fourth quarter, fumbling a pass and stumbling into Magic Johnson, who could have fielded the ball as easily.

The Lakers were 11 down at the time, with a layup presumably coming that would make it 9, with the Celtics starting to look as if they were out on their feet. The Celtics proceeded to gather themselves and win, 123-108. Pat Riley gathered Scott to his bosom, or in other words, put him on the bench.

With anyone else, they’d call this a nightmare and let it go at that.

With Byron Scott, they say he isn’t a big-game player, he’s a front-runner, he doesn’t hit the big hoop. As in: It’s June. Do you know where your shooting guard is?

His games in the finals in Boston Garden have been the worst of it. In 10 of them here, he has averaged 8.1 points and shot 36%.

If you think Scott was waiting for a chance to discuss this at length, think again. He did sit still for the requisite questions, answering in a subdued tone.

Can a building be a problem?

“Not unless you think it is,” Scott said.

Does he?

“Not really.”

Did the defense give him problems?

“The defense gave me no problems,” he said. “I had good shots. I took ‘em. I missed ‘em. Simple as that.”

He’s heard the rap against him, that he isn’t a big-game player?

“I didn’t hear that,” he said. “I’ve just heard it now.”

Does he disagree?

“Yeah.”

It’s not the easiest thing being Byron Scott. He’s 6-4, he can run, he can shoot, he can take it to the basket and dunk on centers, but he’s still on the hook as the man who replaced Norm Nixon. Nixon was quoted this season as saying Scott “hasn’t done crap” for the Lakers.

Scott has had to try to establish himself while remaining the No. 4 option. This doesn’t become easier for a young player in high-pressure slow-down games where the easy hoops aren’t available.

On the other hand, it’s not impossible. Check the development of Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ No. 5 option.

Did Scott ever find his rhythm here on this trip?

“No. Not really.”

Why?

“I don’t think there is any reason,” he said. “A couple games, I was in foul trouble. We were going in to Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) and James (Worthy). We were posting Magic up.

“I have to go in and talk to myself . . . It’s just something, you know it’s there but you can’t find out why. Looking at tapes doesn’t help. You do what you can. If you dwell on it, it doesn’t help.”

For the record, Pat Riley disagrees vehemently with the suggestion that Scott isn’t a big-game player.

“I don’t believe that,” Riley said. “That’s a bad rap. The guy has been with us four years. He’s had great games in other arenas. Nobody talks about the sixth game here in ’85 when we won it. He got us out on top in the third quarter.

“We’re not going to him as much as we should. We’re going inside a lot. You can’t look at his numbers and say he’s not getting it done. He’s just playing within the system.

“(Byron) will be back. And God forbid if he has one of his nights out there and gets it rolling.”

In Games 1 and 2 of this series, Scott scored 44 points, shooting 18 for 26. Of course, they were in the Forum, but so is Game 6.

There are no more games in Boston Garden. Someone mentioned to Scott late Thursday night that at least he won’t have to come back here again this year.

“I don’t plan on it,” Scott said.