To the Sound of Boos, Lakers Deflate, 114-87 : Pro basketball: Pacers win at Forum for the second time in 13 years. L.A. makes only 33% of its shots.

OK Laker fans, you can panic now.

The Indiana Pacers, a 2-12 road team that had won once at the Forum in 13 years, crushed the Lakers, 114-87, Friday night before a fast-disappearing crowd of 17,280.

It was the Lakers’ worst home loss since Nov. 3, 1974 when the Buffalo Braves--today’s Clippers--beat them by 33.

It was their fourth home loss in a row, tying their franchise record.

They shot 33% from the floor and again failed to score 100 points--against the NBA’s second-worst defense.

The Pacers had held only three opponents under 100 in Coach Bob Hill’s 89 games before Friday. You may never see the Lakers get 100 again, unless you watch one of their practices.

Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy, who once applauded his team for not succumbing to what he called the “poor-me Laker syndrome,” wondered if the syndrome now rules.

“I’m worried about it, absolutely,” Dunleavy said after a long postgame address to his players.

“I told them tonight, I’m concerned by what I saw. Not the fact we’re losing, but the way we’re losing.

“That’s two games in a row, we’ve let people do to us what I haven’t seen in the two years I’ve been here. . . . We have to look at our hearts right now. We have to have a gut check, who we are, where we’re going.”

Something has changed, all right.

For 13 seasons, the Lakers had used the Pacers as a punching bag, losing only once to them in the Forum.

That one was Jan. 21, 1985, a day the Pacers never forgot.

“My rookie year,” said Reggie Miller before the game. “ . . . I remember jumping up after the game and tripping over Magic (Johnson) in the middle of the court. They were champions that year. I remember thinking, ‘At least we’re one of the teams that beat ‘em.’ ”

Memories, pressed between the pages . . .

The Lakers, started the first period with a repertoire of outside shots . . . most of which they missed.

Of their nine baskets in the first quarter--in 25 attempts--only two came inside the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, the Pacers took flight. When reserve guard George McCloud made a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter, they were ahead, 34-20, and just warming up.

The Lakers went from 36% in the first quarter to 29% in the second and left the floor at halftime, trailing 59-43, with boos from the once-adoring crowd ringing in their ears.

No one had seen anything yet.

By the end of the third quarter, the Pacers were ahead, 87-64.

By late fourth quarter, with the Pacers’ lead still mounting, there weren’t many more fans in the seats than players on the benches.

“A lot of people have been saying and a lot of people have been writing that this was going to happen to our team,” Dunleavy said later.

“Now the question is, are our guys going to let it happen?

“Are we going to let people come into our house and walk all over us?

“We’re capable of rebounding from this. But no matter how many games you’ve lost, you’ve got to go out thinking you can win.

“I don’t see it in their eyes right now. We’ve got to change the way our eyes look. . . .”

He has two days before the Miami Heat hits town.

The Heat has never won a game at the Forum, but you could ask the Lakers, you wouldn’t want to look past anyone.

Laker Notes

The Lakers have lost six of their last seven. They’re half a game ahead of fifth-place Seattle. . . . The Lakers failed to score 100 points for the seventh game in a row. They have not shot 47% in 11. . . . Of the 12 Laker players, only one, Elden Campbell, shot 50%--and he took only four shots. . . . James Worthy is eight for 29 over two games and Byron Scott is five for 19. Said Mike Dunleavy: “If I was shooting the ball the way some of our guys are--shoot, I’d be out on that floor right now shooting the ball.”

The Lakers were once again out-rebounded, 51-38. Dunleavy once attributed the problem to the loss of Magic Johnson and his seven rebounds a game. Said Dunleavy Friday: “We’re getting crushed on the boards night in and night out. Every little ball is going to the other team and that’s not by chance. It’s because other teams want it more.” . . . Indiana Coach Bob Hill: “We have to bottle this and drink some of it before every game.”