Lakers Have the Best Tip in the End : Pro basketball: Perkins and Worthy work jump-ball play perfectly in 93-90 victory over Kings.

With five seconds left and a one-point lead, there was no margin for error.

The Lakers made none, and with perfect execution of a jump-ball play made strides toward fortifying their confidence.

Sam Perkins tipped a jump ball away from Sacramento’s Lionel Simmons and to teammate James Worthy, just as the Lakers had planned and reaffirmed in a timeout that rattled the nerves of the Forum crowd of 15,066. But Worthy remained calm, making two free throws after being fouled by Simmons and giving the Lakers a 93-90 victory that ended the Kings’ six-game winning streak.

“We called a timeout and saw what they had in mind, and we thought we had an advantage with Sam,” Worthy said after scoring a game-high 25 points. “We wanted to control the ball instead of hitting it down court and taking a chance. It worked out real good.”

It worked out well enough to cancel a 19-point effort by Wayman Tisdale, an electrifying 18-point game by Spud Webb and a third-quarter Laker letdown that almost set up a fourth consecutive home loss.

Instead, the Lakers have won three consecutive games and defeated the Kings for the first time in three tries this season.

“It would have been a real big step back for us not to get a win out of this one,” Coach Randy Pfund said. “The first game home after a long road trip is almost another road game, and especially against a team that’s on a hot streak. All we talked about before the game was coming out with a win. They’re within striking distance in our division.”

The Kings were within striking distance late, taking a 90-89 lead on an eight-foot jumper by Simmons with 1:28 to go. But a layup by Worthy restored the Lakers’ lead, and three missed chances by the Kings kept it a one-point game. Webb, driving for the basket, plunged into a crowd and flew past Threatt, who got a hip into him that might have been a foul but went unseen or uncalled.

“We know we have to play 48 minutes of basketball, and we’ve got to play strong particularly down the stretch,” Worthy said. “We realized we’re not as good as we may have thought we were. We discovered that on the road. But we can work hard, and we will.”

After losing twice to Sacramento in the teams’ previous encounters this season, Pfund developed a healthy respect for the Kings.

“They’re a matchup team. They go at individual matchups and use a lot of isolation, drive and kick, like Golden State,” he said. “They go with quick guys to counter your big lineups. You’ve got to use your size and advantage inside before they can use their quickness and driving ability. . . . I don’t think we played a great game either night. They’re a good, young, developing team.”

The Lakers used their size well in the first half. Vlade Divac pulled down eight rebounds in the first quarter and 10 in the half, helping the Lakers build a 52-46 lead.

“Some people act like it’s an impossibility that you could lose to them,” Pfund said of the Kings, “but they’re a good team. They attack your defense very well. That’s a big win for us. You only get one in the ‘W’ column for (beating) Chicago and one for (beating) Sacramento . . .”

Said Divac: “We haven’t played at home like we play on the road, and now maybe we can start a winning streak at home. I’m very happy we won this one. If we had lost this game, it would have been a step back.”

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Laker Notes

Losing Byron Scott again because of a sore right foot could force the Lakers into making a personnel move. Scott missed 18 games because of a sprained foot, returned for three, and on Thursday learned he had aggravated the injury badly enough to require as much as two more weeks of healing. “I’m looking to find something out in the next few days, and if there’s no positive news, I might go to Jerry (West, the Lakers’ general manager) and ask him to go out and find another guy,” Coach Randy Pfund said. “That’s not putting any pressure on Byron or anything. It’s just that we’ve been in this waiting mode for so long, we need to protect ourselves. I wish we could clear that (Scott’s injury) up. It’s now lingered for a long time. We thought by taking time and allowing it to heal, he would be ready in a few weeks. They’ve re-checked and it’s not a stress fracture, but they can’t put a finger on what it is. He’s missed (22) of 30, and that’s a major part of the season.”