EAST LANSING, MICH. ? Considering former Michigan State phenom Earvin “Magic” Johnson had been the celebratory figure much of the weekend, it wasn’t surprising things also went his way in Sunday’s exhibition game against his former school.

Johnson and the Harlem Globetrotters, who had former Celtics great Larry Bird as an honorary coach, defeated the Spartans, 97-83, Sunday at the Breslin Center.

It was an indication that MSU coach Tom Izzo doesn’t plan to give the Spartans a moment of peace this season.

The Globetrotters, who picked up their 283rd consecutive win, were an exhaustive early test for the Spartans.

And it wasn’t Johnson, who was honored with a statue in front of the Breslin Center before the Michigan-Michigan State football game Saturday, who wore out the Spartans.

Unlike the last two exhibition games Johnson has played against the Spartans, he played only 16 minutes, scored five points and had four assists. The culprit Sunday was former UCLA guard Darrick Martin, who torched MSU for 38 points, including a 5-for-10 mark from the three-point line.

“It was good for the whole team to play against men,” said Johnson, a former Los Angeles Laker. “It’s only going to make them better for the season, because they’re not going to run into guys that are big and strong and also run up against a guard the way Darrick was shooting today. It was unbelievable.”

Michigan State will travel to Kansas University for a nonconference battle Nov. 25.

Sunday’s nationally televised inside peek hinted that the Spartans will score relentlessly and be athletic, and they won’t be burdened by their point-guard-by-committee approach.

The Spartans shot 50 percent, including 56.7 percent in the first half. They rotated four players at point guard — Alan Anderson, Chris Hill, Brandon Cotton and Rashi Johnson — who combined for 11 assists and six turnovers.

Anderson, who looked the most comfortable in the position, scored 15 points and had three assists.

Hill had 12 points and five assists. Freshman Cotton had three assists and no points.

Johnson had four points, but no assists.

Center Paul Davis, who is expected to be the central figure in MSU’s offense this season, scored 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Shannon Brown, considered the second-best player in high school last season behind LeBron James, scored nine points, but he shot 4-for-12 from the field.

The Spartans were outrebounded, 43-21, and they committed 16 turnovers and made 15 assists.

“I was really disappointed,” Izzo said. “Three of our key players really struggled. Paul Davis has played really well, but he did not play very well. I think you’d have to question our toughness right now. You’d have to question our effort. You’d have to question our heart a little bit. I hate to do that this early in the year, because I don’t think it matters how long you practice, you should be able to do those things.”