Lakers Fall Flat Against Bullets : Pro basketball: Washington gets its first victory at the Forum since 1987. L.A. scores only 16 points in the third quarter.

Adopting the theme of the weekend, Magic Johnson’s former teammates retired their uniforms, too, with their bodies still in them.

Badly outhustled by the now 17-32 Bullets, the Lakers went the last 9:36 of the third quarter and the first 12 seconds of the fourth without a basket and fell with a resounding thud, 108-92, Friday night in the Forum.

The Bullets, with little but grit to make up for three players lost from last season’s 30-52 squad--Bernard King, John Williams and Mark Alarie--hadn’t won a road game since Jan. 3. They had not won at the Forum since Feb. 17, 1987.

King is expected to miss the season after knee surgery. Williams ballooned to 305 pounds after his own knee injury and is reportedly at a fat farm. Alarie is due back soon, though the Bullets didn’t need him Friday.

“This is a game that really hurts us,” Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “You come off a game where you played pretty good against a (Utah) team that had the best home record in the league. Then you’re not ready to play, basically. . . .

“This (Washington) team, one thing about them, they’re young, athletic and they play extremely hard.”

That was three things and obviously too many for the Lakers.

The Bullets started the night 0-2 on this trip and, according to Coach Wes Unseld, had one problem:

“Not enough people.”

The Lakers weren’t tack sharp, themselves.

When James Worthy started the game with an 18-foot airball . . . and Sedale Threatt hit the side of the backboard from 16 feet . . . and the Lakers missed their first five shots, you sensed this wasn’t going to be a classic performance.

For a while, it was good enough. Even while missing 19 of 29 shots in the first quarter, and being outrebounded, they managed a 25-24 lead.

Then the bottom dropped out. With starters Michael Adams and Pervis Ellison on the bench and ex-Laker Andre Turner at guard and ex-Bruin (briefly) Greg Foster at center, the Bullets went on a 12-0 run.

At one point, the Bullets scored on eight possessions in a row. Foster scored three straight all by himself without taking a shot longer than one foot and Washington led, 45-34.

Alarmed at last, the Lakers tried to rally. They weren’t making much headway, but A.C. Green took them off the floor with a three-pointer with three seconds left in the half, cutting it to 55-49.

The Lakers came charging out of the locker room, made their first four shots of the third period . . . and then missed all the rest.

They went 0 for 12 while the Bullets turned the game into a track meet.

By the quarter’s end, the Lakers had scored only 16 points, the Bullets were up, 83-65, and the fans were booing.

After that, the Lakers pressed and chased, even cutting the lead in half. But 18-point leads rarely disappear in one quarter and this one didn’t.

Dunleavy compared it later to the worst-at-home-in-17-years 114-77 loss to Indiana.

“They’re similar,” he said. “If you’re going to go anywhere in the playoffs, you can’t let these get away. We’re chasing a home-court advantage. We’ve got to get every game we’re supposed to get and some besides that.

“I think a part of it is, we’re thin. Maybe we were somewhat tired after (Thursday) night. But you’ve got to be in a position to fight through that.”

The Lakers are now No. 5 in the West, which would put them on the road in the first round of the playoffs.

They’re 2 1/2 games behind the No. 4 Suns . . . and one ahead of the No. 7 Spurs.

Movement is possible, in either direction.

Laker Notes

Magic Johnson, asked before Friday’s game what he thought would be the most significant thing about having his number retired Sunday: “That I might come back.” . . . Johnson says he’ll try to figure out whether to make a comeback in the next week or so. “After next week, I will, in my mind, set something,” he said, “ . . . because if I decide to come back, then I should let them (Lakers) know. I should give them a timetable . . . (tell them) if I’m coming back, I’ll let them know by such and such date. Because they need to prepare too.” . . . The Lakers shot 36% and were outrebounded, 50-43. . . . Byron Scott is 13 for 41 over three games. . . . Pervis Ellison led the Bullets with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Backup center Greg Foster had 10 points, giving the Bullets 34 at the position.