Double Trouble for Worthy, Lakers in 117-110 Setback

James, we hardly know ye.

James Worthy, who only recently emerged from a three-game slump in which he scored 27 points and shot 29%, hit the skids again Tuesday night, scoring four points as the Lakers fell, 117-110, to the Sacramento Kings.

The Kings, who recently ended their 18-year Forum losing streak, beat the Lakers twice in a row for the first time in 14 years.

Worthy was scoreless at the half, having missed all his six shots.

He wound up missing 12 of 14.

“This is one you definitely don’t forget about,” he said. “This type of game, you can’t just say it’s a bad game and forget about it. Because it’s not the first time it’s happened.

“I’ve been posting up a long time. Tonight I was thinking about the double-teams quite a bit. If I had started to go quicker instead of waiting for the double-team--then you get into a mind game. There’s no excuse. I’ve been playing a long time.

“That was nasty.”

Worthy wasn’t alone. The Lakers let the Kings, losers of seven of their last eight games, score 60 points in the first half, shooting 56% and outrebounding the visitors, 30-15.

The Kings led by 10 at the half, by 16 during the third quarter and after that, it was only a matter of holding the Lakers off.

The Kings’ cable TV outlet labeled this “Revenge Night,” notwithstanding the Kings’ victory in the previous meeting that ended their Forum drought.

The Sacramento Bee carried the game story on Page 1 of the paper. Forward Wayman Tisdale said it was the greatest night of his life.

“We had suffered a lot of humiliations there,” Tisdale said before Tuesday’s game, laughing. “A lot .

“I don’t care if they’re without Magic, they’re a great team. One thing they have on that team is tradition.”

The Kings were then on their way to a 3-0 start, best since the 1970s. Of course, when they fell to 5-5, that was still the Kings’ best start in 10 years.

By Tuesday, they were down to 5-8.

The Kings jumped to an early 16-10 lead, saw the Lakers catch up and go ahead, 30-26, at the end of the first quarter.

The quarter ended with Laker Coach Randy Pfund playing his twin towers, Vlade Divac and James Edwards, while King Coach Garry St. Jean, the Don Nelson disciple, used a no-tower lineup, with 6-8 forward Kurt Rambis the closest thing to a center.

Pfund and St. Jean opted to go big vs. small once more to start the second quarter, and the little guys won.

The Kings, who had been having trouble from the perimeter, started raining in jumpers. Five consecutive shots fell, including three-pointers by Mitch Richmond and Rod Higgins, and the Kings jumped back into the lead.

The Lakers reeled. At halftime, Sam Perkins had eight rebounds, the rest of the team seven.

By late in the third quarter, the Kings were up by 16.

Edwards, getting his biggest Laker exposure, scored 15 points, 11 of them during the second half as the Lakers tried to rally, cutting the deficit to 92-85 early in the fourth quarter. But that was as good as it got for them Tuesday.

Laker Notes

A.C. Green played with a hyper-extended left elbow, was taped from forearm to biceps and appeared in his 497th consecutive game, the NBA’s longest streak. . . . Sedale Threat led the Lakers with 26 points. Lionel Simmons had 26 for Sacramento. . . . Tony Smith scored 20 points, tying his career high set last week. . . . The Kings lost starting point guard Randy Brown with a sore knee halfway through the game and finished with Mitch Richmond and Walt Williams dividing up the position. Brown had been starting since the loss of Spud Webb, who will be out until February with torn knee ligaments. . . . Kurt Rambis, waived by the Suns at age 34, signed with the Kings last week. “I’m going to play as long as I can,” he said, “until they kick me out.”