Threatt Is Laker Streak-Breaker With Basket Against Pacers at :03

He didn’t have a feeling for what he was doing offensively, and until the third quarter Sunday, Sedale Threatt didn’t have a single point.

“Every shot I threw up there was short or long,” he said. “But if you keep playing good defense, eventually you get your legs and the shots are going to come.”

Threatt’s perseverance and dedication to defense paid off. His jumper from the left side with three seconds to play gave the Lakers a 92-90 victory over the Pacers Sunday, making a Forum crowd of 15,747 witness to the lone victory on the Lakers’ six-game home stand.

Threatt had only two points against the Knicks on Friday and was one for 10 through three quarters Sunday, but he made four consecutive shots in the fourth quarter to lead a Laker rally.

“I’ve been worried about a lot of things, but not about Sedale,” Laker Coach Randy Pfund said, visibly relieved after his team ended its five-game losing streak and six-game streak at the Forum. “Sedale and I talked (Saturday) and I said, ‘Let’s just concentrate on defense.’ Teams that scout him are going to take away some of what he can do. I love the way he caught fire late in the game. He felt like he had to take us on his shoulders.”

Some of the burden was shared by Byron Scott, who astutely stepped back so his jumper with 39.6 seconds to play would be a three-pointer, cutting Indiana’s lead to 90-88. Some was shared by Vlade Divac, who had a team-high 18 points and 13 rebounds, and some was assumed by A.C. Green, whose hustle enabled the Lakers to tie the score, 90-90. He stole the ball and held onto it while Greg Dreiling grabbed it, forcing a jump ball. Green tipped the ball to Divac, whose shot rolled off the rim, but Green was there to nudge it in with 33 seconds to play.

And still more was shouldered by Elden Campbell, who had a season-high 18 points to help the Lakers erase a Pacer lead that was 83-77 with 7:08 to play.

“We were at a difficult point, and this was a step in the right direction,” Campbell said. “We’re not going to stop here or say here. We’ve got a long way to go as far as getting ready for the playoffs.”

Pfund agreed. “We still struggled in a lot of areas, and we can’t look at a win and say, ‘We’re OK,’ ” he said. “Hopefully, this is as low as we’re going to get and we’ve taken a step up.”

The Lakers promised two changes from Friday’s loss to the Knicks: Green vowed to stick around for the entire game and Threatt declared he would get more than his season-low two points and five shots.

Green was ejected in the first quarter Friday for telling official Dick Bavetta, “You’re missing a good game,” a mild but ill-timed remark.

“I’m just going to bite my mouthpiece harder,” said Green, who was jokingly nicknamed “Forum Foulmouth”’ by teammate Doug Christie. “The rep is gone. I’m obviously a bad boy.”

Green lived up to his word Sunday, scoring 13 points and getting 12 rebounds, but Threatt struggled to make his prediction come true. He and Scott were badly outscored by Indiana’s starting backcourt of Pooh Richardson and Reggie Miller, who had 22 points to spark the Pacers to a 54-46 halftime lead.

Laker Notes

The Lakers finished with 12-15 record against Eastern Conference teams. . . . Even before the Pacers made three three-pointers Sunday, Laker opponents had made 196 three-pointers, breaking the record of 194 set in 1988-89. . . . James Worthy, a member of North Carolina’s 1982 NCAA championship team, was bragging about the Tar Heels’ return to the Final Four this year. “But I can’t joke with any of my teammates because their schools aren’t in there,” he said.