Rematch Goes to Spurs, 101-100 : Pro basketball: They get 29 points from Robinson and avenge Monday loss to Lakers.

Rookie Coach John Lucas and center David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs did what any tourists in Los Angeles might do with a free evening--they went to “The Arsenio Hall Show” Tuesday night.

But judging from the way the Spurs have been playing lately, Lucas is probably more ready for a psychiatrist’s couch than Arsenio’s couch.

The Spurs won 25 of 29 games to move into first place in the Midwest Division after Lucas replaced Jerry Tarkanian on Dec. 18. But they lost seven of 11 games after the All-Star break, including a 92-87 defeat by the Lakers on Monday night at San Antonio.

However, the Spurs defeated the Lakers, 101-100, in Wednesday night’s rematch before 15,000 at the Forum.

The Lakers, who trailed, 97-90, with 3:55 to play, outscored the Spurs, 10-4, to cut the deficit to one point after Byron Scott’s layup with one minute remaining.

The Lakers had three chances to win after Sean Elliott missed a jumper with 41 seconds to play, but Sedale Threatt missed a jumper with 16 seconds remaining. The Lakers retained possession after the Spurs lost the ball beneath the Lakers’ basket.

The Lakers called a 20-second timeout to set up a play, but center Vlade Divac, who had team highs of 23 points and nine rebounds, missed a 17-foot jumper with three seconds to play. Scott caught the rebound and launched a 12-footer that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Although the Lakers lost, they may have found a backup point guard in rookie Doug Christie.

Christie replaced rookie Duane Cooper in the rotation and played 13 minutes, scoring four points with four assists, two rebounds and one steal.

Christie played nine minutes in the third quarter as the Lakers, who trailed by as many as six points, rallied to tie the score at 79-79 going into the fourth quarter.

“Doug’s going to play,” Laker Coach Randy Pfund said. “He’s going to be out there. I don’t know if it’s going to be like tonight, but I talked to Duane Cooper and told him that I’d probably be going with Doug Christie ahead of him some.”

If Cooper was angry about losing his spot in the rotation, he didn’t show it.

“You’ve got to keep doing what you’re doing,” Cooper said. “You can’t worry about what anyone else is doing. If he wants to play Doug ahead of me, I’m all for it. Doug’s a good friend of mine, and if it will help make the team better I’m all for it.”

This was the second time that Christie has played point guard in four games as a pro.

After playing small forward and shooting guard in his first two games with the Lakers, Christie, had one assist and one rebound in six minutes in Monday night’s victory at San Antonio.

“Right before the game they took me back and let me go through the play book and gave me a crash course at point guard,” Christie said. “I think I did OK. I don’t think they expected me to go out there and do everything. It’s where I feel the most comfortable, trying to get the guys where they’re supposed to be and as I learn the offense I’ll be able to do that more.

“I haven’t played that much guard. I’ve only played guard for about a year and a half. I played (shooting guard) my junior year and last year I played (point guard) and (shooting guard) and I think Jerry (West) saw something there that he likes.”

The Lakers think Christie’s future is at point guard.

“When he came aboard we were using him at (small forward), but we looked at him as a (point guard, shooting guard and small forward),” Laker assistant coach Bill Bertka said. “We wanted him to learn one spot and then go to the other. He’s somewhat familiar with point guard and small forward and at shooting guard we’ve got Byron (Scott) and Anthony (Peeler), so we’re looking at where he might get the most time. To me he was more impressive as a point guard than he was as a small forward.”

Laker Notes

Center James Edwards has watched his playing time decline since the Lakers acquired center Benoit Benjamin last month. Edwards hasn’t played in the Lakers’ last four games and eight of their last 10. He played five scoreless minutes in his last appearance on March 9 in the Lakers’ 123-121 victory at Detroit.