Jan. 16, 1964 - The icy conditions in the Midwest finally caught up with the Lakers tonight and dealt them a cold hand. For their third straight appearance on television, the Lakers turned cold in one period — the third — and fell before Oscar Robertson and the Cincinnati Royals, 108-95. A Cincinnati Gardens crowd of 7,283 saw the Lakers rush off to a good early lead and still hold the advantage by two at halftime. Then came the icy blast. Rudy LaRusso scored on a driving layup near the start of the third quarter, then the Lakers missed seven straight shots from the field and two free throws, before LaRusso scored again. More than four minutes had elapsed between Rudy’s buckets, but Cincy still held only a three-point lead. But when L.A. managed only seven of 25 from the field in the whole period, the Big O and Jerry Lucas, the latter having his finest night as a pro with 29 points, took charge and pushed the Royals out front for good.
“We were getting our shots, good ones,” said Laker coach Fred Schaus, “but we just couldn’t put the ball in the hole. That’s the whole story.” Schaus paid tribute to Arlen Bockhorn, who hounded Jerry West for three period, but said he felt that West, who connected on only three of 18 shots, looked and acted tired. Bockhorn was modest concerning his defense. “I had to be lucky, and he had to be off. West is in Oscar’s category, so nobody can really stop him.” Royal coach Jack McMahon felt the turning point came in the second quarter when he put Lucas at center. “He snapped out of it, and we were all right from then,” said McMahon.
