Weary Lakers Put Through Paces and Lose, 98-85 : Pro basketball: Indiana runs them down and drops them into a tie with Clippers.

What was the difference between the Indiana Pacer offense and a layup line?

Nothing.

The Lakers tried to fight back Monday night, but you couldn’t say they played well. Looking like a team playing its fifth game in seven nights, they lost, 98-85, to the Pacers, who swept them for the first time.

For the Lakers, here’s the good news:

They’re coming home with a 3-2 record on this trip.

And the bad news:

They fell into a tie with the Clippers for the last playoff berth.

Knowing Laker resources were stretched thin, the Pacers went at them from the opening tap, with their motion offense, their fast break and their long bench.

It worked.

“They’re big,” Pacer Coach Bob Hill said. “They don’t really want to guard the passing game or guard the transition game for a long period of time. We want to do this every night, but it was a little more important tonight because of their situation.”

Said Pacer guard Reggie Miller, who led all scorers with 24 points: “You’re thinking about going home. You think about your bed, your upcoming games. I can understand what they were going through.”

The Lakers hung in through the first quarter but faded during the second. The Pacers led by 56-43 at halftime, then blew the game open with a run in the third quarter that went like this:

Detlef Schrempf, layup.

Miller, rebound of his own missed 20-footer.

Miller, layup.

Rik Smits, dunk on which he was fouled and made the free throw.

Micheal Williams, three-pointer.

Dale Davis, 10-foot jumper.

Miller, two free throws.

By then it was 78-59.

The Lakers tried to rally, but never got closer than 12 points.

The Pacers worked on the clock, running down the shot clock at the end of the game. They scored one basket in the last 5:27, but they had already scored enough.

“We’re winding up with a successful trip,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said, “but we didn’t play very well.

“Any time you play the games we played, you’re going to come up with these, but you’ve got to dig down. Other guys have to come in and contribute. They know it’s the last game of your trip. They want to tire you out, and they’ve got the kind of guys who can do it.”

Dunleavy had the kind of guys who couldn’t do it Monday.

Now, it’s back to the Forum, where they have lost six of eight.

Be it ever so problematic, there is no place like home.

Laker Notes

James Worthy, who has sat out eight games because of a sore left knee, has been cleared to rejoin the team. He will practice today and Wednesday, and then a decision will be made on whether to activate him for Wednesday night’s game against Portland at the Forum. However, Coach Mike Dunleavy said he wouldn’t expect Worthy to start or to play a lot of minutes. . . . The Pacers went 15-7 with Greg Dreiling starting at center, but split their last 12 games, so Bob Hill put Rik Smits, the early season starter, back in the lineup. Smits, from the Netherlands, was outscored by fellow European Vlade Divac, 23-7.

“I think our guys grew up a little from all the dirt thrown on them (after a disappointing start),” Hill said. “I think they’re more willing to work with Rik than they were.” . . . Divac’s points were his season high. Dunleavy started him for the second half, but isn’t ready to start him in a game. “There’s no way he can go 30 minutes all-out, but we’ve got to push him,” Dunleavy said. “I don’t know the formula. It isn’t an exact science.”