Angry Magic says veteran Lakers should know better

Magic Johnson doesn’t like what he sees from the Los Angeles Lakers, and he decided to speak up about it Saturday.

“I think the Lakers had a mind-set that was disrespectful to the Pistons. They thought it was going to be easy. That is not the case,” Johnson said. “Unless they come out and play very hard, with the same level of intensity as the Pistons, this series will be over.”

Johnson, a vice president and part-owner of the Lakers, was not displaying his trademark grin as he exited The Palace on Thursday night following the Lakers’ 20-point loss in Game 3.

At a news conference to promote his basketball camp, Johnson heavily criticized the Lakers.

“I am angry. You have to compete. And we’re not competing,” he said. “You can just see the Lakers’ frustration. No one is welcoming anyone to the bench. Guys are sitting there, wandering off into the crowd, defeated. We’ve got to get that look off our faces and play basketball the way it’s supposed to be played. If not, the series won’t get back to Los Angeles.”

The series resumes tonight with the Detroit Pistons leading the best-of- 7 series 2-1.

“I have eight rings and I want nine,” Johnson said. “My anger is that we haven’t competed in this series. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what the mind-set is. But this is just unacceptable.”

Johnson also singled out Karl Malone and Gary Payton for criticism.

Malone had an altercation with a heckler prior to Game 3.

“You don’t put your finger in a fan’s face. That’s unacceptable. Lakers don’t do that,” Johnson said of Malone, who claimed the heckler spat on him. “I don’t care what he said. He has been to two finals. I’ve been to nine. Do you think the Celtics fans didn’t say things I didn’t like?”

Payton has been outplayed by Detroit’s Chauncey Billups.

“Gary Payton is 35 years old and isn’t the same Gary Payton he was 10 years ago. He has to accept that,” Johnson said. “Gary Payton has had a lot of great, wide-open looks and hasn’t knocked them down. That doesn’t change if you’re in the triangle or a 1-4 or what. Wide-open looks are wide-open looks. He shot an airball just the other day, wide open. Hell, nobody was 10 feet from him. He got it, caught it, wide open, airball. You’ve got to make that shot. You’ve got to make plays. Gary’s problem isn’t on offense. It’s on defense. Billups is using him up.”

Easy, Big Fella

Shaquille O’Neal’s scoring is down from his usual performances in the finals, but he probably set a playoff record by stealing the opening tip in each of the first three games.

O’Neal has been whistled for three straight jump-ball violations — tipping the ball before it reaches its apex — to give the first possession of each game to Detroit. The Pistons scored on two of those possessions while getting off to good starts in all three games.

Brown finds a home

Wandering coach Larry Brown has found a home in Detroit — at least for now.

“This is my last NBA coaching job,” Brown said. “I hope it’s not my last experience in the game.”

Brown has coached seven of the NBA’s 29 teams, as well as the ABA’s Carolina Cougars. He also led Kansas to an NCAA championship and spent two successful seasons at UCLA, and he’ll be the coach of the U.S. Olympic team in Athens.

So how long will the 63-year-old coach hang around Detroit?

“You know my track record,” Brown said with a grin.

Hamilton still smarting

Richard Hamilton is still waiting for that phone call from Michael Jordan to congratulate him on making the NBA Finals.

And Hamilton isn’t exactly holding his breath. He hasn’t spoken to Jordan since two days before the Washington Wizards traded him to Detroit in September 2002, and he’s only recently begun to get over the move.

“It hurt big-time. I was crushed,” Hamilton said Saturday after the Pistons practiced for Game 4. “I didn’t want to leave Washington. It felt like when you were a little kid and you broke up with your first girlfriend.

“I had just got my house. I thought that was the place I was going to spend the rest of my life. … I had a big grudge for six or seven months, at least.”

Though coach Doug Collins was the only person with the Wizards to call him after the trade, Hamilton has been a huge success since arriving in Detroit for Jerry Stackhouse. He’s also a rising star on the national scene after his playoff performance, which included 31 points in the Pistons’ victory in Game 3.

Hamilton’s one season as Jordan’s teammate decidedly was a mixed blessing.

“He taught me so much about being a player — how to carry yourself on the court, how to move without the ball,” Hamilton said. “When MJ came, and you saw the way he attacked on both ends of the floor, it made you see the game differently.”

But Hamilton’s growth probably was stunted by Jordan’s comeback with the Wizards. Jordan sometimes demanded minutes as Washington’s shooting guard, sending Hamilton to the bench.

“You had to be careful in a lot of ways,” Hamilton said. “You had to look at it as, OK, this is not only the greatest player in the game, this is my boss. It was crazy … but for me, there were still a lot of plusses. I mean, we were never on TV until he came there.”