NBA PLAYOFFS : Suns Barely Come Up, 107-102 : Game 3: Lakers cut 14-point deficit to one with 19 seconds left, but lose. Divac misses late three-pointer but has 30 points.

Paul Westphal made good on the first part of his prediction, but the Lakers came remarkably close Tuesday to making the Phoenix coach eat his words by sweeping the Suns out of the first round of the playoffs.

Phoenix held off a series of Laker comebacks, including a surge that cut a 14-point deficit to one point with 19 seconds to play, to stay alive in the Western Conference first-round, best-of-five series with a 107-102 victory at the Forum.

After the Lakers’ two victories at Phoenix, Westphal declared the Suns would win Tuesday and again in Game 4 Thursday to set up a series triumph Sunday at the America West Arena, but the Lakers came within an open jump shot by James Worthy and a failed three-pointer by Vlade Divac of spoiling his game plan and ousting the Suns.

“He was being honest,” point guard Kevin Johnson said of Westphal’s declaration, “and now we’re going to go out there Thursday and try to make him look like a prophet.”

Vlade Divac had a career playoff-high 30 points to lead the Lakers, who get another chance Thursday to become the first eighth-seeded playoff team ever to eliminate a top-seeded team. Divac scored 10 points in the third quarter despite missing five minutes to repair a five-stitch cut over his right eye, a gash caused by Johnson’s elbow.

“I was very, very ready for this game, but during the first quarter I missed a lot of very easy shots,” Divac said. “They’re still alive because they have this game, but we should come in Thursday and play with the same effort. We don’t have to change anything. We didn’t play well in the first quarter and we still had a chance to win the game.”

A three-pointer from the left side by Sedale Threatt with 1:25 to play cut the Suns’ lead to 101-100 and sent the sellout crowd of 17,505 into a broom-waving frenzy. It also sent the Suns into a huddle to discuss last-minute strategy, recalling how they were outscored down the stretch by the Lakers by a 9-0 count Friday and 9-1 on Sunday.

This time, though, they held the Lakers at bay. Not that it was easy: Worthy had a chance to give the Lakers the lead, but his 15-foot jumper from the left side hit the rim and was rebounded by Oliver Miller; Divac fouled Miller, who sank both free throws for a 103-100 Phoenix edge.

“You always think they’re going in,” Worthy said of his jumper. “It was a good play, a pick and roll and they switched off. It was the shot that had to be taken.”

The Lakers settled for a layup by Byron Scott, instead of the three-pointer they wanted, on the next possession to cut the lead to 103-102. Richard Dumas, who had 18 points, followed with two free throws with 17.6 seconds to play.

Then Divac got off a sorry attempt at a three-pointer, all but ending the Lakers’ comeback hopes and sending the crowd home with their placards and the brooms they had hoped to use in celebration of a Laker sweep.

“That was a terrible shot,” Divac said. “I had the ball and couldn’t give it to Sedale because (Dan) Majerle or KJ was pressuring him.”

The pressure remains on the Suns, who won a league-leading 62 games during the regular season, to win Thursday in order to sustain their hopes of becoming the fourth team to overcome a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series.

For precedent they can look to the New York Knicks, who rallied to defeat the Celtics in 1990; the Golden State Warriors’ victory over the Utah Jazz in 1987 and the Ft. Wayne Pistons’ defeat of the St. Louis Hawks in 1956. However, no team has ever won a playoff series after losing the first two games at home.

“We were just emotional all through the game,” said Majerle, who ended a horrendous shooting streak by sinking four of eight field-goal attempts, including two of four three-pointers.

Said Westphal after his first playoff coaching victory: “We won one. We’ve got to win Thursday. I’m just glad they had to put the sign up at the Forum that there’s a game Thursday night now.”

Charles Barkley led the Suns with 27 points and 11 rebounds, but A.C. Green led both teams with 17 rebounds. Green also had 14 points, and Elden Campbell added 17 in the Lakers’ first Forum first-round playoff loss. They lost a game to Portland last spring that was designated a home game but was played in Las Vegas because of the riots that followed the first Rodney King trial.

Tuesday, posted prominently in the Lakers’ locker room, where every player would see it before the game, was an enlarged photocopy of Westphal’s declaration Sunday that the Suns would win the two games at the Forum and return to Phoenix to win the series.

“We did play well, but well was not good enough to get the win,” Green said. “Now, they’re one step closer to being even and they’re trying to build themselves to the position of being in the deciding game. They have a much better position and new life, and it’s up to us to put that to an end.”

But Johnson thinks the series will end with a Sun victory, because Phoenix was able to increase the pace Tuesday and play the running game it prefers. The Suns’ 51-44 lead at the half was their first halftime lead in the series, and they also outrebounded the Lakers for the first time, 45-43.

“Tonight we got a big lead and we forced the tempo and they had to catch up,” he said. “We’re back on track and playing the way we’re supposed to play. We found a way to win and I think we’re going to play even better in Game 4.”

Laker Coach Randy Pfund had no quarrel with his team’s effort. Still, he wasn’t about to mimic Westphal and guarantee anything.

“I have no problem with our guys. We had a great opportunity to win a game and we just didn’t,” he said. “You have to look at it that they’re a very good basketball team and to think that even under the best of circumstances that we could beat them three in a row, I think is somewhat of a very difficult task.”