Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 30, 1994                   TAG: 9401300192
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: INGLEWOOD, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

LYNCH SHOWS LAKERS HIS STUFF

It is force of habit, really. It's the way George Lynch says he's always played basketball. He cleans up after his teammates.

"Even when I was younger, the guys never passed me the ball," the Los Angeles Lakers' rookie said. "I had to go get it myself. And that's one of the things I do best."

Lynch, a former standout at Roanoke's Patrick Henry High School, was quite the retriever Friday night, grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds and scoring 20 points in helping lead the Lakers to a 105-97 victory over the Detroit Pistons in front of 13,235 spectators in the Forum.

Lynch, who has started the past seven games in place of injured forward Doug Christie, is beginning to make Lakers fans understand why club general manager Jerry West selected him with the 12th pick of the 1993 NBA draft. He is averaging 10 rebounds per game over his seven starts, and he has 39 points in the past two outings.

By pulling down the most rebounds by a Lakers rookie since Magic Johnson had 18 in a game in March 1980, Lynch helped the Lakers outrebound Detroit 58-36 and hold off a Detroit comeback after the Pistons had sleepwalked through most of the first half.

Said Lakers guard Sedale Threatt, who helped hold off the Pistons by scoring 12 consecutive points late in the third quarter: "He reminds me so much of [former Laker] A.C. Green because he has a nose for the ball. He's a great rebounder, and he's going to be a good player for us."

Detroit's Isiah Thomas scored a game-high 31 points and rookie guard Lindsey Hunter, a player with whom the Lakers were enamoured before the draft, added 23.

The Pistons came to the Forum having lost 17 of their previous 18, including a nine-game losing streak at home. Friday night's loss gives them a 9-31 record, the worst start in club history. They are 0-8 against Pacific Division teams this season.

With nine players on the active roster who weren't with the team at the end of last season, it figures that the Pistons would have occasional communication problems. Against the Lakers, though, they looked as if they were just introduced to one another before tipoff.

The Lakers had a 15-2 lead before the game was five minutes old. Detroit had 15 turnovers in the first half, resulting in 21 Lakers points. The Lakers had a 37-19 lead after the first quarter, the most points they have scored in the opening period this season, and they led by 32 points late in the second quarter.

But the Pistons had them right where they wanted them - lulled into a false sense of security.

Thomas and Hunter combined for 26 third-quarter points. The Pistons committed one turnover and outscored the Lakers 40-25 in the quarter.

But Lynch's eight points and seven rebounds in the fourth quarter helped the Lakers turn away the Pistons.

"I thought we showed some ability to hang tough when things started going the other way," Lakers coach Randy Pfund said. "It would have been a horrible one to lose."