The Phoenix Suns couldn't beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs. They couldn't buy a win at the Forum. Cotton Fitzsimmons' teams hadn't won on the Lakers' court, in his words, "since Lincoln was assassinated."
But all that's history now.The Suns, rising in the West as the 1990s begin, sent the NBA's team of the 1980s down to humbling defeat in their playoffs, beating Los Angeles 106-103 Tuesday night to win the Western Conference semifinal 4-1.
"Over the years, every time the Suns looked like they were going anywhere, there were the Lakers," said an elated Fitzsimmons, the Phoenix coach. "`The fact that we won two games in the Forum is unbelievable."
The Lakers had trouble believing it, too.
"I feel everything you can feel as a loser," said Magic Johnson, who matched his career playoff high with 43 points in the defeat. "I don't know how to deal with it, truthfully.
"I never thought we'd lose and that we'd be on vacation this early. It's really sad. I'm at the point where I could cry, but I've got to be strong at the same time."
Kevin Johnson led the Suns to their series-clinching victory as they took two of three games at the Forum. Going into the matchup, the Suns had lost all six of their previous playoff meetings with the Lakers, including a 4-0 sweep in the conference finals last year, and Phoenix had a 21-game loss streak at the Forum dating back to 1984.
Fitzsimmons had fared even worse, with his various teams losing 37 straight at the Forum dating back to 1974.
Their two wins on the Lakers' floor this year were not flukes. Although Tuesday night's game was close, the Suns were the steadier team during crunch time, with Kevin Johnson, who scored 14 of his 37 points in the final quarter, leading the way.
While Magic Johnson shouldered most of the load for Los Angeles since James Worthy couldn't get his shots to go down and no other Laker emerged to take up the slack, the Suns' Johnson got good support from Jeff Hornacek and Dan Majerle.
Worthy, off-target for the second straight game, had just 14 points on 5-of-19 shooting. Byron Scott followed Johnson in the Los Angeles scoring, but with just 17 points, six on 3-pointers in the final minute.
Hornacek had 22 points for the Suns and Majerle had 16 off the bench. Mark West, meanwhile, had 16 rebounds and 10 points as Phoenix outrebounded the Lakers 46-38.
Kevin Johnson said that while the Suns were losing to the Lakers in the playoffs in 1989, they also were learning.
"The experience of their sweep last year and how they won games at the end really helped us," he said. "We used our youth to psyche ourselves that we could wear down the `older guys' in the fourth quarter.
"What a difference a year makes. There's no doubt we would have lost our composure (in Tuesday's game) if it were a year ago."
The Suns now will meet the winner of the Portland-San Antonio series, which the Trail Blazers lead 3-2.