One Out of Two OK for Lakers : Pro basketball: Big third quarter gives Spurs a 104-86 victory, but Dunleavy considers the trip a success.

The Lakers’ improbable five-game winning streak, without Sam Perkins, ran out of gas Wednesday night on a flat stretch of Texas.

The San Antonio Spurs, without David Robinson, took the Lakers out in a third-quarter barrage en route to a 104-86 victory before 16,057 at the HemisFair Arena. That ended a five-game losing streak for the Spurs.

The Lakers, meanwhile, packed their bags and deemed their two-game trip a success, weighting it heavily on a front-end victory over the Houston Rockets.

“If you told me we could only get one, we got the one we had to get, the one down in Houston,” Coach Mike Dunleavy of the Lakers said.

Tuesday night’s victory opened some breathing room between the Lakers and Rockets in the fight for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Lakers still lead Houston by 2 1/2 games with 10 to play.

Wednesday’s loss to the Spurs underscored what normally results when teams play consecutive nights with a paper-tiger bench.

The Laker front-court trio of Elden Campbell, A.C. Green and Vlade Divac, which dominated the Rockets with a combined 60 points and 33 rebounds, followed it up with a rubber-legged performance against the Spurs.

Only Campbell, with 18 points and 11 rebounds, bounced back from Houston. Green, who played 46 inspired minutes against the Rockets, managed only four points in 39 minutes against the Spurs. He made two of eight attempts from the field.

Divac, an ongoing conditioning project because of early-season back surgery, answered some questions as to how he might fare in consecutive-night appearances by scoring five points in 37 minutes.

“Obviously, it was a big point tonight,” Dunleavy said of Divac’s falloff. “He basically didn’t give us much. It may be because of where he is with his injury with his back. He said he’s had some difficulties, but we’ve got to get through that.”

Divac was three days removed from his career-high, 32-point-performance against Philadelphia, but he proved he still has a way to go on consistency.

“I felt tired, I felt soft,” Divac said. “I didn’t play strong. I missed a lot of shots I usually make.”

Divac, who missed six of eight shots from the field, said his poor performance was due to more a lack of conditioning than problems with his back, which he said felt fine.

The Lakers defeated Houston with their front court, but they stayed in this one for a half thanks mostly to their guards, notably Terry Teagle, who scored 10 points off the bench in the second quarter to keep the Lakers close, trailing 49-47.

But when the Spurs shifted gears in the third quarter, the Lakers were no match. Forward Terry Cummings scored 13 of his game-high 35 points in the quarter as the Spurs outscored the Lakers, 31-18.

“We didn’t have the answer for Cummings tonight,” Dunleavy said.

Nor for Spur point guard Rod Strickland, who routinely broke through the Laker defense on his way to 13 points and 10 assists.

“We don’t have room for error,” Dunleavy said. “Everybody’s got to do the job big time. When the guys have to play big minutes last night, it’s a problem.”

But the mission was accomplished, albeit strangely. The Lakers beat the Rockets with Hakeem Olajuwon and lost to the Spurs without David Robinson.

Yes, this has been an odd season for the Lakers.

“Anytime you win one out of two (on the road), you have to call it a successful trip,” guard Byron Scott said.

Laker Notes

Reserve forward Chucky Brown, who missed the four previous games because of a sprained left ankle, played seven minutes without scoring. Sedale Threatt, who didn’t make his first basket against Houston until 9:03 remaining, scored on a layup 45 seconds into Wednesday’s game and finished with 14 points. Tony Smith scored 14 points in 15 minutes. Terry Teagle led the Lakers with 20 points, giving him 38 points off the bench on the two-game trip.

Teamwork dept.: The Lakers entered the game with no player averaging more than 15 points, but five players averaging between 9.8 and 14.8. . . . Guard/forward Willie Anderson returned to the Spur lineup for the first time since suffering a stress fracture to his left shin Feb. 17 and scored four points in 12 minutes.