Lakers Swing Back in Round 2, 135-106 : Pro basketball: Three days after losing to Portland, L.A. turns up the heat. Johnson’s return and rebounding make the difference.

This apparently is not the time for subtlety, so Laker players were greeted Friday night with the following message written 12 times on the locker-room blackboard, in capital letters and red ink:

REBOUND

Sometimes, one word can be worth a thousand pictures. The Lakers, losers by 19 points in Portland three days before, rebounded quite well for a 135-106 victory over the Trail Blazers before 17,505 fans at the Forum.

The Lakers (53-17) thus extended their Pacific Division lead to three games over the Trail Blazers (51-21) and maintained their advantage over the Detroit Pistons (52-19) for the NBA’s best record. Next up is the Utah Jazz, who will enter Sunday’s game only three games behind the Lakers for the Western Conference’s best record.

The Lakers overcame Portland, in large part, because of Magic Johnson, who had his ninth triple-double of the season, and rebounding.

The Lakers finished with a 55-46 edge on the boards against the Trail Blazers, the NBA’s best rebounding team. That margin had been as much as 15 when Coach Pat Riley cleared the bench early in the fourth quarter.

And, when the Lakers are attuned to defense and rebounding, it often translates into a revived fast break. In that respect, the Lakers were never better than in a season-high 44-point third quarter that broke open a close game. The 135 points is the most the Lakers have scored this season. But it wasn’t always easy. The first half was marked by a scuffle in which each team was assessed two technical fouls.

“I thought it was academic what we had to do tonight,” Riley said. “Our Achilles’ heel against them has been conversion defense and rebounding. (The victory) has nothing to do with anything except that. We used to be one of the best rebounding teams in the league; now we’re 14th. Tonight, we had a real good effort.”

Riley’s recurring theme wasn’t lost on the Lakers.

“Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding--I read that,” Vlade Divac said. “I understand that’s been our problem. We do good job rebounding tonight, everybody.”

No one, however, was more dominant than Johnson, who played for the first time since he sprained his right ankle in the first half of Tuesday’s game, and finished with 25 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. It was his 121st career triple double.

Taking his guard’s ankle injury into consideration, Riley said it was one of Johnson’s best games.

“He was great,” Riley said. “Tonight, he was as good as I’ve ever seen him. He would not let us lose the lead. But as good as Earvin was individually, we would not have won if we didn’t rebound. Everybody, especially our big guys, did the job and put in the effort.”

The Lakers’ third-quarter performance was even more impressive because much of the time James Worthy was on the bench in foul trouble and Byron Scott was out after being poked in the eye. Johnson scored 16 of his points in the quarter as the Lakers shot 66.7% and limited Portland to 35% from the field.

“When you’ve got Byron and James out, you got to do more,” said Johnson, who added that his ankle felt better in the second half. “I didn’t know what I could do (on the ankle) in the first half. Plus, I got those two quick fouls.”

But Johnson wasn’t the only Laker scoring and, especially, rebounding.

Orlando Woolridge, playing most of the third quarter after Worthy received his fourth foul, matched his season high with 24 points. Mychal Thompson, dominated by Kevin Duckworth Tuesday at Portland, had 10 rebounds and 14 points. Duckworth, meanwhile, made one of nine shots after scoring 22 Tuesday.

A.C. Green had nine points and nine rebounds. Divac had six rebounds in 18 minutes, and guard Michael Cooper had five boards to go with 12 points.

The Trail Blazers, appearing tired after playing five games in seven nights, were led by Clyde Drexler’s 21 points and Buck Williams’ 18. But no Trail Blazer reached double figures in rebounding.

Portland was in the game in the first half, cutting the Laker lead to 59-57 one minute into the third quarter before the Lakers blew the Trail Blazers away. Rick Adelman, Portland’s coach, called a timeout when the Lakers pulled ahead by 10 points, another when the lead grew to 14, but after that he didn’t bother.

It didn’t get any better late in the quarter when rookie Cliff Robinson and Drexler missed a combined four consecutive free throws.

It looked like a different game in the first half when Cooper’s emotions got the better of him with 1:15 to play in the second quarter.

Cooper fouled Williams, who was shooting, underneath. The two tangled arms, but Williams lifted his above his head in a peaceful gesture. Cooper responded with a shove. Then, Terry Porter and Woolridge exchanged shoves. With Riley pleading for Cooper to calm himself, Cooper and Drexler exchanged shoves.

Four technicals were assessed, one against each player involved, so no technical free throws were shot. But it was an indication of the intense play between the division rivals.

Perhaps coincidentally, the Lakers pulled away slightly after the incident to take a 59-53 lead.