Lakers Have Just Enough : NBA: Their centers have foul trouble, but they barely hold off Kings, 104-99. Divac trade rumors swirl. Benjamin stays on the bench.

If the trade rumors are true and this was Vlade Divac’s last game as a Laker, it was typical of so many he played for the Lakers in 3 1/2 seasons.

The good: eight rebounds, six assists and 10 points in the Lakers’ 104-99 victory over the Kings before 17,317 Wednesday at the Arco Arena. The bad: five fouls, four of them before the fourth quarter began, and three turnovers. The ugly: Divac and all the Lakers’ big men having to back off defensively because of foul trouble, leaving them unable to blunt a fourth-quarter Sacramento push.

“The referee didn’t let us play,” Divac said. “That’s why we picked up so many early fouls. It was difficult.”

Despite the foul trouble, Coach Randy Pfund didn’t bring in Benoit Benjamin, acquired from the Seattle SuperSonics on Monday with Doug Christie for Sam Perkins.

The Kings narrowed a 94-80 deficit to one several times down the stretch and trailed, 100-99, with 38 seconds remaining after a layup by Walt Williams, two of his game-high 31 points.

After Byron Scott made two free throws--he was nine for nine from the line--and gave the Lakers a 102-99 cushion, Spud Webb missed a three-pointer that might have sent the game into overtime. Sedale Threatt’s driving layup, the last of his 23 points, secured the Lakers’ seventh victory in 10 games and stretched Sacramento’s losing streak to six. Scott finished with 22 points.

“If this is my last game, I would be so sad, but I don’t think so,” Divac said. “I must think positive.”

The latest and strongest rumor concerned a three-way deal involving the Lakers, Mavericks and Bucks in which the Lakers would get the rights to unsigned Dallas draft pick Jim Jackson for Divac. The Mavericks would then send Divac to Milwaukee for rookie Todd Day.

Divac was intrigued by that rumor, but said he’s not nervously awaiting today’s 6 p.m. trading line.

“My old coach wants me,” he said of Buck Coach Mike Dunleavy. “It could be worse. First of all, I like it where I am. But if I have to go, I’m not dying if it happened like that. . . . I hope I’m going to be a Laker, but I can’t change things. If I can change things, for sure I would stay here.”

Pfund thinks there won’t be any more changes before Friday’s game against Cleveland at the Forum.

“I’ve talked to the office (Wednesday) and I’ll talk to the office (today),” he said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t still things flying around the league, but my hunch is that (the Benjamin trade) was the step we were going to take at this point.”

Benjamin met the team in time to participate in Wednesday’s shoot-around. Consistent with his inclination to keep Benjamin on the bench until he’s more familiar with the Lakers’ offense and defense, Pfund summoned little-used Alex Blackwell off the bench instead of going to Benjamin when James Edwards picked up his fourth foul with 1:08 left in the first half.

Divac was also struggling then, with three fouls and only four points, and Elden Campbell managed to pick up three fouls and only three points by halftime.

The Lakers’ 59-53 lead was due largely to Sacramento’s defensive confusion and to Scott’s 13 points in the first half.

A.C. Green, with 12 points and five rebounds, and Threatt, with 11 points and five assists, also kept the pressure on the Kings.

“I think we saw the two areas tonight that are going to be a concern for us, and that’s the big guys getting into foul trouble,” Pfund said. “Until Benoit gets into our system we’re going to have to learn to play a little different on our front line. The absence of a big guy on the front line hurt us. . . . The other area of concern is late-game offense, because we relied on Sam (Perkins) for that. We got some good shots tonight but we didn’t hit them.”

Laker Notes

Anthony Peeler, who has tendinitis in his left wrist, played 12 minutes and scored five points after sitting out the previous two games. . . . The starting time of the Lakers’ game against the Clippers Feb. 28 at the Forum has been changed to 7:30 p.m. from 12:30 p.m. . . . A.C. Green tied his season high with 15 rebounds and Threatt tied his season high with 11 assists. . . . The Lakers made 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter.