Weary Lakers Run Out of Road : Pro basketball: They simply don’t have enough left to stop Pistons. Detroit wins, 112-93.

The Lakers are either an inspired team or a thin one. Friday night it wasn’t hard to guess which, either.

The Pistons, in all their ragged glory, without Isiah Thomas or a .500 record, put it to the Lakers, drubbing them, 112-93, to give them a 1-2 record on this trip, not to mention a two-game losing streak.

“Let’s go home,” said Coach Mike Dunleavy, laughing. “I want to go home, Dorothy.”

The Lakers had several little problems: Sedale Threatt’s thigh was still sore where Scottie Pippen kneed him. James Worthy had a sore knee.

The Lakers have one big problem: There just aren’t enough of them anymore.

“We’re just a team, we’ve got to play as hard as we can play every night to have a chance to win,” Dunleavy said.

“I knew tonight was going to be a tough game. It’s the game last night (the loss at Minnesota) that bothers me.

“There’s no question about it. . . . We’re going to have nights like this. Hopefully Vlade (Divac) can come back--I hate to say the word--in months. That will give us another big guy we can go to. Right now, we’ve basically got Sam (Perkins) and we’ve basically got James.”

Friday night, they basically had neither.

Worthy’s sore knee stiffened. He made four of his first five shots, then one of his last 11.

Perkins had another problem: Dennis Rodman.

Rodman spotted Perkins an inch and 30 pounds but swallowed Perkins’ post game whole. In the first half, Perkins scored one basket on Rodman, a line drive 15-footer.

Rodman also had 22 rebounds--or seven less than the entire Laker team. In Rodman’s last 11 games, dating to Dec. 1, he is averaging 20.5 rebounds.

“He was a priority for us,” Dunleavy said. “He’s a unique human being. He’s the greatest offensive rebounder I’ve ever seen. We’ve got a guy on our team, A.C. Green. A.C.’s got the same kind of heart Rodman has, but he doesn’t have the athletic ability.”

Rodman was unavailable for comment. After playing the first 47 minutes--his seventh game in a row over 40--he went straight to the exercise bicycle and rode that for 30 minutes.

It was a subdued bunch of Lakers who arrived in the Palace Friday, knowing in their hearts they had basically blown their trip Thursday in Minneapolis.

They managed a good half. They moved into a six-point lead in the second quarter behind Terry Teagle, newly risen again from non-playing status. Teagle scored eight of 12 Laker points in one stretch and gave them their first, last and only spurt of the night.

As an omen, Green made a three-pointer with time running out in the half to tie it, 54-54 . . . only to see the Pistons fire the ball the length of the floor to John Salley for a layup that beat the buzzer.

The Lakers sank like a rock in the third quarter. Joe Dumars, who would finish with 28 points, went off on them. Worthy tossed up miss after miss.

Dunleavy tried pressing in the fourth quarter. The Pistons ran a layup drill through it.

“The starters pretty much gave it all we had,” Worthy said. “We just lost it mentally.

“Sometime you have to push through that and we didn’t tonight.”

After 15 of 25 games on the road, with their personnel losses, the Lakers have pushed beyond expectations. They had to know there would be nights like this. After Chicago, they just weren’t expecting them back to back.

Laker Notes

Magic Johnson, on the statement by his physician, David Ho, that he shouldn’t return for the playoffs: “He’s told me that right now, he doesn’t want me to play at all. . . . I’m not going to say I’d go against him. I want to live, that’s the main thing. It’s not about playing basketball. I also have another person to consider. Now it’s two heads instead of my hard head. . . . Cookie (Johnson’s wife) wants me to stay away from that basketball court. She wants me to chase her and our baby around.”

Isiah Thomas didn’t even attend the game. His face is swollen and sore after taking a hit from Karl Malone.

* NET WORTH: Jim Valvano reportedly has agreed to coach the New Jersey Nets. C14.