Lakers Run Into Good Team, Man : Pro basketball: Barkley sparks the 76ers to their first victory over Lakers since 1984, 116-110. L. A. is tied with Detroit for the NBA’s best record.

Candor might be Charles Barkley’s most engaging attribute. He speaks with little fear of reprisal, stating unvarnished truths that others might find too harsh or delicate to articulate.

Wednesday night, after the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Lakers for the first time in 11 meetings, dating to the 1984-85 season, Barkley bluntly explained why it took so long for his team to break through.

“We didn’t have the talent to beat them,” Barkley said. “We didn’t sit around thinking about it, because we had (bad) players. That was the answer. We had no players.”

They do now.

The Lakers can attest to that.

Building as much as a 12-point third-quarter lead behind guard Johnny Dawkins’ outside shooting and Barkley’s strong inside play, the 76ers withstood a late Laker rally for a 116-110 victory before 18,168 at the Spectrum.

Tempering the victory for the 76ers was the loss of power forward Rick Mahorn, who hurt his lower back in a fourth-quarter collision with Barkley and is out indefinitely.

By the same token, the Lakers’ depression over the end of their four-game winning streak was tempered by the knowledge that Philadelphia is a quality team--”good on the verge of being great,” Pat Riley said--and that they still are tied with the Detroit Pistons for the NBA’s best record.

The Lakers, who play at Cleveland tonight, are three games ahead of second-place Portland in Pacific Division. Their top priority, however, is to finish better than the Pistons and receive home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Today, the Lakers and Pistons are 47-15. “Tied is the key word there,” Laker center Mychal Thompson said. “We’re the better team still. We just have to take care of our own business.”

Barkley and cohorts made it their business to interrupt what had been a dominant stretch for the Lakers, who had won 16 of 18 games.

Dawkins, left alone on the perimeter when the Lakers double-teammed Barkley, tied his career high with 30 points and added 10 assists. Barkley, meanwhile, was his dominating self. He finished with 35 points and 19 rebounds and won a battle with Magic Johnson to see which player would take command of the game in the final minutes.

For a while, it looked as if Johnson, who had 34 points, would lead an improbable Laker comeback.

The Lakers trailed by six points with 42 seconds to play when James Worthy grabbed Orlando Woolridge’s missed free throw and passed to Johnson behind the three-point line. Johnson made his fourth three-point shot of the game to cut Philadelphia’s lead to 109-106 with 34 seconds left.

Hersey Hawkins countered with two free throws with 29.1 seconds left for a 111-106 lead, but Johnson drove the lane for a layup to make it 111-108 with 24.6 seconds to play.

The Lakers fouled again, and Dawkins missed both free throws with 23.5 seconds left. After a Laker timeout, Johnson went one-on-one with Barkley on the left wing. He backed in, then spun around and missed a running jumper with 16.6 seconds left. Dawkins grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Johnson.

As Dawkins approached the free-throw line, Barkley sidled up and whispered in his ear.

Words of encouragement, perhaps?

“No, I told him I’d let him off the hook for those first two misses,” Barkley said. “But I said if he missed the next two, I’d kill him.”

With the wrath of Barkley hovering, Dawkins made both free throws to make it 113-108. Barkley then stole the inbounds pass from Woolridge to Johnson, made a layup and an accompanying free throw after being fouled by Woolridge. That made it 116-108, and the 76ers simply let Worthy sink a layup shortly before the buzzer and commenced celebrating what they called an important victory.

While the Lakers are concerned with such lofty goals as finishing with the league’s best record, Philadelphia is simply trying to reclaim first place in the Atlantic Division. The 76ers had it for a few days after beating New York last week.

But they had lost their last three going into Wednesday’s game, prompting Barkley to call a team meeting late Tuesday night. Now, the 76ers (39-25) trail the idle Knicks by one game.

“I don’t think we panicked or anything,” Barkley said. “It didn’t matter who we played tonight. We’d play high school teams just to get a win. The Lakers are a very good team. But we’ve got a good team. We just got to play like this every night. If we do, we can beat anybody.”

Laker Notes

Rick Mahorn’s injury was diagnosed as a sciatic nerve injury in his lower back. Mahorn had blocked Mychal Thompson’s shot, then ran into an onrushing Charles Barkley. He was on the floor for about five minutes. “When he hit the ground, he had no feeling in his one (left) leg,” Coach Jim Lynam said. “He’s able to move now, but very gingerly.” . . . The 76er guards, Johnny Dawkins and Hersey Hawkins, combined for 54 points and 12 assists. The Lakers’ backcourt tandem of Magic Johnson and Byron Scott combined for 39 points. Johnson had 34. . . . The last time Philadelphia beat the Lakers was Dec. 7, 1984. Moses Malone scored 35 points for the 76ers that night. . . . Reserve center Jawann Oldham has been signed to a second 10-day contract. Oldham has played in only two of the past six games.