Hawks Keep an Omni Edge Over Lakers : Pro basketball: Atlanta gets club-record 18th consecutive home victory, 111-102.

With biorhythms that wouldn’t have moved the needle, the Lakers stepped in to try to stop the Hawks’ club-record 17-game home winning streak and--surprise!--went down like tenpins.

Make that a club-record 18 in a row. The Lakers got an A for effort for conjuring up a late rally but an L for loss, 111-102, when it fell short Friday night.

“I’m pumped,” Hawk Coach Bob Weiss said. “To win 18 games in a row and not be the Harlem Globetrotters is great, especially considering the teams we beat. The Lakers have a little bit of glamour, so this win added a certain spice to it.”

In Weiss’ ecstasy, he must have overlooked the 5-14 road record his team has compiled while ruling the Omni, but happiness is where you find it.

The arena was sold out and old Hawks, of whom there are several, regained their Hall of Fame form, if only for a few key moments. Moses Malone, a month shy of 36, came off the bench to take a game-high 13 rebounds and score 12 points. Sidney Moncrief, in retirement last season, shot seven for eight and had 14 points.

Mike Dunleavy coached the respected Moncrief in Milwaukee and played alongside him.

“If it’s got to happen to me,” Dunleavy said, “if I’ve got to take a loss, I don’t mind it coming from a veteran professional like Sidney Moncrief.”

He had to take a loss, all right.

Playing their third game in four nights, with Magic Johnson having gone 44 and 41 minutes in the first two, with Sam Perkins back in Brentwood resting his broken toe and flu-weakened Terry Teagle good for 10 tentative minutes, the Lakers barely matched up.

Weiss did what he could to drive the point home, keeping two of his three big men--Malone, Kevin Willis and Jon Koncak--on the floor most of the way.

“We really missed Sam tonight,” Mychal Thompson said graciously, since he started in Perkins’ spot.

“They used a real big lineup. They were able to pound us into submission, in my opinion. If Sam had been there, it would have been different. We just didn’t have enough 16-inch guns.

“We were like Sinead O’Connor out there--not into it.”

The Lakers’ medium-sized men had their problems, too. Johnson had eight turnovers to go with his nine assists. James Worthy missed 12 of his first 18 shots.

Thus, it was remarkable that the Lakers almost got to halftime trailing only 56-50.

That wasn’t to be, either.

With 14 seconds left and the Hawks in possession, Dunleavy sent in rookies Tony Smith and Elden Campbell to play defense. They came up with a stop and the Lakers took over with four seconds on the clock.

Dunleavy elected to play it the way it was.

Oops! Smith traveled.

The Hawks took over with two seconds left, inbounded the ball to Doc Rivers and saw Rivers make a three-point shot. How about 59-50 at the half, instead?

“All the guys I took out were in foul trouble,” Dunleavy said. “They (Hawks) were coming at us. I didn’t want anyone to pick up another foul.”

Before long, there was only 3:30 left in the game and the Lakers were looking at a 13-point deficit. A 7-0 run and they were back in it.

If briefly. Moncrief made a pretty layup after driving the lane. Worthy missed from 17 feet and Malone, fouled on the rebound, made two free throws. Turn out the lights.

“I made my living driving for 10 years,” Moncrief said. “You don’t forget how to drive. Sometimes you just can’t score.”

Sometimes it’s your night, too.

Laker Notes

Doc Rivers, on Friday’s soft Laker interior defense: “You don’t think about it that way, but this is how they played last year. The difference must be (Sam) Perkins.” . . . The Hawks’ 111 were the most points a Laker opponent had scored in 15 games. . . . Mike Dunleavy gave his players today off. They will play the Pistons at Auburn Hills, Mich., Sunday on national television.