Lakers Fall Short This Time, 112-108 : Pro basketball: Perkins’ three-point attempt grazes rim as SuperSonics win. He had beaten Hornets with a last-second shot.

There is one thing worse than winning ugly, and the Lakers got to that Saturday night.

After unimpressive victories over the Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets, they lost, 112-108, to the SuperSonics when Sam Perkins’ attempt at a game-winning three-pointer fell short.

The Lakers trailed, 110-108, when James Worthy found Perkins alone in the corner with about five seconds to play.

Perkins, who beat the Hornets with a last-second 10-footer, fired again--and missed, barely grazing the rim.

The Sonics’ Ricky Pierce rebounded, was fouled and made two free throws.

“It was straight, but I didn’t get underneath it,” Perkins said. “I’d take that shot all over again, if I had to.”

The real Laker problem, however, is their long-term performance. They are now 12-12 since their nine-game winning streak ended Nov. 29 at Boston. They aren’t red-hot. They aren’t ice cold. They are simply .500.

“There’s no way of us knowing where we are as a team until Vlade (Divac) gets back . . . until we see what Vlade can do for us,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said.

That isn’t expected to be until after the all-star break. Meanwhile, the Laker struggle continues.

The Sonics started the night with a 1-0 record under interim Coach Bob Kloppenburg, a popular, kindly 63-year-old former Clipper assistant.

“It’s a touchy situation,” Kloppenburg said before the game. “I didn’t really want to do it. Ten years ago I would have wanted to do it . . .

“We had a great coach (K.C. Jones). Who knows what it means when a team isn’t playing well? It might take a psychologist, who knows?”

The first thing that happened Saturday night was a local oddity: second-year SuperSonic point guard Gary Payton making a 17-footer.

The Lakers had decided to let Payton beat them from the outside, which he proceeded to do, when he wasn’t beating them from the inside.

Payton made nine of his 16 shots and scored 19 points, or 13 more than his former teammate and good friend, Sedale Threatt.

“Payton played a good game,” Dunleavy said. “Particularly early. He made some long shots, which hasn’t been something he’s supposed to have been doing.”

Threatt, returning to the city where he played for four seasons, took it all in stride.

“They were doubling me hard,” he said, laughing. “I think they had an extra incentive.

“Kloppenburg told me, ‘You’re not going to get off. We’re going to double you.’

“That was our plan, too. I had to go and double-team. We were going to let Gary shoot it. I had to double on a lot of guys tonight: Ben (Benoit Benjamin), Shawn (Kemp), Ricky. I was roaming. “

The Lakers led, 63-58, at the half and 85-84 after three quarters, but after that, their perimeter offense failed them.

With 8:13 to play, Worthy made a 14-foot jumper to put the Lakers ahead, 93-92.

After that, the Lakers scored three more field goals--all by Worthy.

With 35 seconds left, Worthy blew past Eddie Johnson and, with a chance to tie the score, banked a seven-footer too hard off the board.

At the other end, Johnson made a 20-footer and the Sonics led, 109-105.

Worthy beat Johnson again for a layup. This time Johnson committed the cardinal error of fouling him, too.

With 15 seconds left, Worthy made a free throw to complete the three-point play, cutting the lead to 109-108.

With 11 seconds left, Pierce, a 93% free throw shooter, made only one of two, giving the Lakers a last chance.

Perkins missed it. Win some, lose some, the new Laker mantra.

Laker Notes

Vlade Divac traveled with the team for the first time since undergoing back surgery Nov. 27. “I be back soon,” he said. “If I want to be back soon, I have to be with team and see what’s happening.” Divac is still aiming for the all-star break. He is practicing lightly with the team but still has periods of numbness in one leg. He is walking with a noticeable limp. . . . Laker assistant Randy Pfund, mentioned as a possible SuperSonic coaching candidate, says he hasn’t been contacted. . . . The Sonics are now reportedly looking at three men: Doug Collins, Mike Fratello and Paul Silas.

* THE NBA

Grousing players were the undoing of K.C. Jones as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics. Mark Heisler’s column, C6.