Offense Still Is Icy for Lakers : Pro basketball: They return from Midwest with same inability to score and the streaking Suns win, 100-88.

For fans wondering what was holding the Lakers up, nothing is anymore.

Home from the cold, unfriendly Midwest, they were overmatched by the Phoenix Suns, who led from opening tip and beat them, 100-88, Sunday night at the Forum.

“With Magic (Johnson), to beat the Lakers was great,” said Sun guard Jeff Hornacek.

“Without Magic, we expect to win.”

Said Sun Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons: “It’s going to be a nice Christmas.”

The Lakers have lost three in a row, dropping into a tie with the Suns and Blazers for second place behind the Golden State Warriors.

The Suns have won 11 of 12, making up six games on the Lakers.

Before this streak, the Lakers hustled their way to a 16-7 start, two games better than they had been a year before with Magic Johnson.

They still are hustling; they simply aren’t going as fast.

“We’re getting a lot of hustle,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “But the bottom line is, you’ve got to put the ball in the hole.”

The Lakers have averaged 89 points in their three losses.

Led by Hornacek, who made seven of his first eight shots, most from long range, the Suns took a 14-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.

The Lakers cut it to 94-88 on Sam Perkins’ three-point play with 3:43 to lay, but didn’t score another point.

The Lakers started the night with a two-game losing streak, a retired superstar and a missing center, not to mention the usual complement of bruises and sprains.

But optimism?

They still had that.

“No matter what you say,” Dunleavy said before the game, “your ultimate goal is to make the playoffs. But for me, first place is the ultimate goal.

“You should always be shooting for first place. If we’re not in first, we’re chasing whoever is. I don’t think there’s any other way to be. Sometimes you’re not the best, but you’ve got to go for it anyway.

“We’ve been through a third of the season and we’re capable if we can stay, quote, unquote healthy.

“There’s not a team in this league we can’t beat. If you say we’ve got a game tonight, it doesn’t matter who it is, we can beat them.

“If you step back and look at the schedule, people are going to say, ‘You can’t do it.’ But if you play it one game at a time, you’ve got a chance.”

His players then charged out and shot 28% in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, the Suns led, 32-22, but reserves A.C. Green and Terry Teagle led the Lakers back.

Green missed his first five shots but warmed up during the second quarter, scoring eight points. Included was one of the better plays of his career; he grabbed a rebound, dribbled the length of the floor and made a reverse layup.

The Lakers’ Sedale Threatt drew two quick fouls against Kevin Johnson early in the third quarter, forcing him to the bench.

That wasn’t the ticket, either. Johnson’s backup, Negele Knight, scored 12 points in the next 10 minutes.

“I think most--all--of our guys can look themselves in the mirror and say, ‘I put it out there. I may not have played a great game, but I put it out there,’ ” Dunleavy said.

His players have put it out there for the last six weeks.

Now it remains to be seen what they have left in them.

Laker Notes

Since his 12-point, seven-block game at Chicago three games ago, Elden Campbell has scored seven points. “It’s kind of like Vlade (Divac) last year,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “For us to be the best team we can be by playoff time, Elden Campbell has to develop. If he can’t do that, we’ve got to find that out early. I think he can.”