Lakers Show Spurs They Shouldn’t Be Written Off, 98-96 : Pro basketball: San Antonio loses despite overcoming 13-point deficit in fourth quarter.

The Lakers bagged another elephant, but this one almost got out of the net.

For the third time in their six-game post-Magic winning streak, they beat a team with the NBA’s best record, this time the San Antonio Spurs.

Intent on reversing the trend, the Spurs rubbed out a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and went ahead three times, but the Lakers subdued them too, 98-96, Friday night in the Forum.

Willie Anderson made a three-point basket to give the Spurs their last lead, 93-91, with 2:00 left. A.C. Green then responded with a three-pointer from the corner to put the Lakers ahead to stay.

The Spurs had a last chance to go ahead, but David Robinson, taking the ball 20 feet out on the right wing, tried to drive the lane, ran into traffic and was called for traveling.

“He walked,” Spur Coach Larry Brown acknowledged later.

“He never should have been out there. Guy’s on the block.”

He meant the 7-foot-1 Robinson should have been setting up in the low post. In other words, Mr. Robinson was out of his neighborhood.

“We’re like a team of (recovering) substance abusers,” Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “(Recovering) substance abusers say take it one day at a time. We’re taking it one game at a time.

“We have a long way to go, but we’re a solid defensive team. Our defense keeps us hanging around until we can find someone going good.

“It’s going to take awhile--but I don’t mind winning in the meantime.”

Said Brown: “They’ve got good players. (Terry) Teagle all of a sudden is emerging again after they were ready to give up on him. A.C. Green, he was kind of like the forgotten man around here and he’s emerging again. How many championship rings does Green have, five (three)?”

The night started amiably enough. The Spurs came in 7-1, the best winning percentage in the league. Magic Johnson, the prospective owner, was out early shooting, and he chatted with Brown, coach of a franchise that happens to be for sale.

“Maybe he’ll buy our team,” Brown said. “I better be nice to him.”

The Lakers looked as if they had broken the game open in the third quarter when they held the Spurs to 13 points.

They led, 76-63, starting the fourth quarter whereupon the Spurs tore off a 14-6 run.

When the Lakers regrouped, the Spurs hit them with another 9-1 spurt. With 3:54 left, Terry Cummings made a driving layup and the Spurs had the lead.

The Lakers hung on, taking the lead back each time they lost it, until Green’s dramatic basket put them ahead to stay.

The Lakers have held five opponents in this streak to 96 points or fewer.

That is fortunate for them, because in six victories, they have only broken 100 points three times. They haven’t shot as high as 47% in any of the last four games.

They have been out-rebounded in the winning streak by an average of five a game.

“We play defense every game,” Bryon Scott said. “We shoot 40% tonight and we win a game.

“In my nine years with this team, we’ve always considered ourselves hard workers. I mean, the way this team is, it’s unbelievable.

“You have to appreciate it as players. We appreciate it. It feels good.”

Laker Notes

The crowd was 17,505, the season’s first sellout. . . . Vlade Divac had a big game, 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, but his back went into spasms again. The Lakers say he is day-to-day. . . . Byron Scott made the 428th three-point basket of his career in the first quarter, tying Michael Cooper’s club record. Scott had 0 for 5 in three-pointers during the four previous games.

David Robinson agreed later that he should have been in the low post. San Antonio Coach Larry Brown told a reporter he reminds Robinson “every single time out and every single day. I don’t know how many times. Maybe if you tell him, it will somehow get through to him. . . . He doesn’t have a clue.” . . . Brown on seeing Magic Johnson shooting baskets: “I’m just happy he’s around. It wouldn’t be the same coming in here and not being able to see him around. He looks great. He shot the heck out of the ball, too.”

The Spurs are without holdout guard Rod Strickland and aren’t likely to get him back soon. “I don’t think anybody’s optimistic,” Brown said. “They haven’t talked in three weeks. When you don’t talk, I don’t think anything gets accomplished.”