Lakers Out of a Playoff Spot : Pro basketball: They lose to Spurs, 102-94, and fall behind Rockets in race for the eighth--and final--berth in the West.

Needed: human sacrifice.

The Lakers won nine in a row after Magic Johnson retired, went 3-2 on the East Coast without James Worthy and won six in a row without Sam Perkins, prompting Coach Mike Dunleavy to joke the next time they were in trouble, they would subtract someone else.

Trouble arrived Thursday night.

What remained of the San Antonio Spurs after losing David Robinson pummeled them, 102-94, dropping the Lakers from the last playoff position, half a game behind the Houston Rockets, who won at Minnesota.

Moreover, the Rockets are assured of prevailing by tiebreaker if the teams finish with the same record. Thus the Lakers are effectively 1 1/2 games behind with six left.

“We lost the game on effort,” said Jack Haley, summoned from cold storage to replace a fading Vlade Divac in the second half.

“It was a real disappointing loss for us,” Dunleavy said. “With how important the game was, a home game, to come out and play as soft as we did . . .

“The problem is, I can’t play for them. We talked about it before the game. The way they beat us down there (at San Antonio), they were much more physical than we were. If we didn’t play that way, we were going to have a tough time.”

Welcome to a tough time.

The Lakers have trailed by double figures in each of their last four games--ever since their winning streak ended at San Antonio.

The Spurs came in 2-6 without Robinson, having lost at home to Orlando, having beaten only the Lakers, who had played the night before at Houston, and the free-falling Denver Nuggets.

Nevertheless, they jumped the Lakers, taking an 8-2 lead, scoring on 13 of their last 16 possessions in the first half to go up, 52-42.

When Sean Elliott drove the lane for a layup to open the second half, Dunleavy called a 20-second time out.

He tried another timeout six minutes later when the Spurs scored on four possessions in a row.

Running low on timeouts, Dunleavy sent in Haley, who played furiously. He made two jumpers in a row, took five rebounds, blocked three shots and yelled at every Spur in sight.

“At halftime, Mike made the comment we were being physically abused inside,” Haley said.

“Antoine Carr and Sidney Green were pushing our players around. I had a strong indication I’d play in the second half. My intention was to turn the physical aspect around. Emotionally, I tried to bring a lot of spirit that was missing.”

The Spurs went up by as much as 82-69 early in the fourth quarter. Terry Teagle and Sedale Threatt led a late rally, cutting it to 94-92 on Teagle’s running five-footer with 2:02 left.

The Lakers had one chance to tie but Threatt, who had made four of five shots in the quarter, missed a 20-footer.

The Spurs rebounded, broke out and Elliott dunked on a fast break. That was as close as the Lakers would get.

One other note: Elden Campbell sprained his right ankle and left in the third quarter. He is listed as day-to-day, but he says he will play Saturday against Utah.

Laker Notes

If the Lakers and Houston tie, the first tiebreaker would be season series (tied, 2-2). The second--conference record--would also be the same. The Rockets would then prevail with a better record against the other West playoff teams. Houston is 12-15 to the Lakers’ 9-21. . . . Laker dream come true: Shaquille O’Neal in their locker room--but only to say hello. O’Neal, here for the Wooden Award ceremony, watched the game from Jerry Buss’ box. . . . Buss denied a Prime Ticket report that he denied Sacramento permission to speak with General Manager Jerry West. However, new King owner Jim Thomas is known to have wanted West. Buss said he is re-doing West’s contract “to put these rumors to rest.” Buss owns 16% of Prime Ticket.

Mike Dunleavy denied speculation he is headed back to Milwaukee to replace General Manager Del Harris or Coach Frank Hamblen. “I’m now coaching the Lakers,” he said. “I enjoy coaching the Lakers.” . . . The Spurs’ starting front line outscored the Laker starters, 75-22. . . . Dunleavy on Vlade Divac: “I was disappointed in the way he played (28 minutes, six points, five rebounds). It was such a physical game. He just has to get tougher.” Said Divac: “I play so soft. I feel bad.”