Sense of Loss Becomes One : Pro basketball: The Lakers lose to the Suns, 113-85, and drop to 1-3. Scott and Worthy are L.A.’s new co-captains.

For the Lakers, Friday was the first night of the rest of their lives, and it wasn’t pretty.

They started their post-Magic Johnson era by falling, 113-85, to the Phoenix Suns, their worst loss since April 22, 1990, when Pat Riley played the reserves in the regular-season finale at Portland.

This time, what remains of their first string absorbed the pounding.

James Worthy, trying to step up, came out firing, but missed his first nine shots and wound up four for 22.

The Lakers shot 32%. For the second game in a row, they were out-rebounded by 11. They are 1-3.

“I knew it was going to be either really good or really bad,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said, managing the smallest of smiles. “Unfortunately for us, it was the latter.

“We couldn’t make any shots, whether it was too much emotion or whatever.”

Dutifully, the Lakers trudged back to work.

Work is all it is for them right now.

“I think for the next two weeks, probably two months, that’s basically how everybody’s going to look at it,” Byron Scott, new Laker co-captain, said at the noon shootaround.

“It’s just a job. You have to go there and do a job. It’s not going to be fun for a while.”

The Suns were ready to play, only by comparison.

“It affects everybody,” a somber Cotton Fitzsimmons, coach of the Suns, said before the game.

“Y’all have to put it in words whether he was the greatest player. He was probably the player with the most charisma.

“He retired and he didn’t retire of his own choosing. If he was coming to the end of the road and said, ‘OK, I’m retiring,’ I could handle it a little easier. I know he didn’t want to retire.

“I won’t enjoy this incident. A couple of incidents he didn’t play, I did enjoy. He had a sprained ankle one year when I was in Kansas City. Quarter to six and he’s in my whirlpool, eating two hot dogs.

“I said, ‘We’ve got a chance tonight.’

“He said, ‘Don’t count on it.’ ”

The game started one-sided and slipped into a mismatch. Worthy clearly was pressing. The new point guard, Sedale Threatt, who had scored 51 points in his last two games, was zero for three at the half. The Lakers looked confused on offense and gave up 60 points by halftime, too.

“I’m trying to stay strong,” said Worthy, the other co-captain. “I’m trying to do what I can.

“Obviously, the shots didn’t fall tonight, but I’ve had those nights before. I don’t want to put it on anything in particular.”

The third quarter turned into a Phoenix fast-break drill. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Suns were ahead by 31.

“We’ll have a day off,” Dunleavy said. “We play Sunday. Then we’ll have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to go to work. We’ve got to become somewhat of a different team.

“We have to rely more on execution. In the past, we’ve had someone at the end of plays who could create a mismatch, with Earvin’s ability to post up.

“It’s going to take awhile. Bottom line, our guys understand that.”

His players understand many things, including the fact they are in pain.

“Every timeout I thought about Earvin,” Scott said. “I was dazed out there at times. I’d ask Mike, ‘What did you say?’

“I just had a lot of feelings about him, wondering what he was doing.”

Was this the worst time he had ever been through in basketball?

“Without a doubt,” Scott said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this.

“You see guys in the finals, in tears and agony after losing a game, but I’ve never been through anything like this. This just feels like something has been taken away. Something very special.

“Part of me is gone, the fun part. It’s been taken away. The part that made it fun to go to practice. Him cussing me. Me cussing him back, like two brothers.”

It wasn’t pretty, but it wasn’t a surprise. The Lakers flew home to do some serious work.

“This isn’t easy on anyone, there’s no doubt about it,” Dunleavy said. “There’s no sense crying about it. It’s a matter of picking up the pieces and getting on with it.”

Laker Notes

Elden Campbell, starting at center again, broke his personal shot-block record for the second game in a row with six. He also had 10 points and 14 rebounds. . . . Cotton Fitzsimmons, coach of the Suns, consoled Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy before the game. “He just said, ‘I feel for you, I feel for your situation,’ ” Dunleavy said. “I said, ‘Don’t feel for me. Feel for Earvin Johnson.’ ” With Sedale Threatt in foul trouble, Dunleavy tried James Worthy at point guard, briefly and without success. . . . The Lakers will play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night. Vlade Divac, who has sat out two games because of back spasms, says he expects to play. . . . Dunleavy was noncommittal about trades before the game. Asked about acquiring a player afterward, he said: “You never know.”