Lakers Badly Stung : Pro basketball: Hornets, led by Johnson and Mourning, are latest to take advantage of them, 141-124.

The Lakers, victims most of the season, kicked back Wednesday night.

Of course, it didn’t happen until after the game, when a frustrated Doug Christie booted a chair in the locker room.

During the game, the Lakers were pushed around again, this time worse than usual, giving up their most points in more than five years in a 141-124 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

No Laker team has surrendered as much since the Denver Nuggets went for 146 points Nov. 15, 1988. No Hornet team has scored as much in a game.

“In the true spirit of Thanksgiving,” Laker Coach Randy Pfund said, “we gave Charlotte something to be thankful for.”

Yeah, the Lakers showing up.

The Hornets needed this, a strange notion for a team that is 7-4 and expects to join the elite. They were coming off back-to-back losses, including 20-point beating at Washington the night before, and have a stretch of four of five on the road upcoming.

So the Hornets, playing before another capacity crowd of 23,698 at Charlotte Coliseum, took away any doubts quickly, turning the game into a rout in the first quarter by taking a 43-23 lead. The Lakers rallied in the second quarter . . . to within 13.

That’s as close as it got. The Lakers fell back by as many as 26, on several occasions in the third quarter, and trailed by no less than 16 any time during the second half. They didn’t get any sympathy from the Hornets, who kept stars Larry Johnson (28 points and 22 rebounds) and Alonzo Mourning (22 points) in until only 2:31 remained.

But who was doing the damage--Muggsy Bogues also tied a team record with 19 assists--became the least of the Lakers’ problems. They have plenty to go around on their own roster, a group that has a five-game losing streak, a 3-9 record and players questioning the offense and defense.

“What they (coaches) are throwing out there for us is not working,” Christie said of the offense that at least showed a rare pulse in getting 108 attempts and converting 48.1%. “The offense is stagnant now. We need to find a way to make it work. I don’t know. I can only speak for myself.”

Captain James Worthy has taken the same concerns to Pfund, who responded by saying the Lakers may go more to a passing game.

“Yeah, there’s frustration,” Pfund acknowledged.

More problems: They keep getting worked over inside by power forwards. It started last Friday, when Horace Grant had 23 rebounds and six blocks for Chicago. Then came Sunday at New Jersey, where Derrick Coleman went for 21 points and 19 rebounds (nine offensive) in only 34 minutes on a bad ankle. The Lakers got a reprieve Tuesday at Atlanta, when Kevin Willis was forced out after only 14 minutes because of a sore foot, but Johnson made up for that.

In those same four games, Elden Campbell has reached double figures in rebounds once. Against the Hornets, he had four in 29 minutes.

“Elden just needs to get consistent and do more,” Pfund said. “I think he has shown us he has the ability to be a rebounder. We’ve just got to get some consistency from him and the guys who play behind him.”

Said Campbell, who is still coming back from a sprained ankle that kept him out of the first six games: “I think I’ve done all right. I’m starting now, so every game the power forward is going to be one of their better players. I’ve just got to be ready for that.”

Laker Notes

Sedale Threatt returned to action after missing Tuesday’s game in Atlanta because of a sore left elbow, the result of needing four stitches to close a deep cut. He warmed up with the joint heavily bandaged, but that felt too restricting, so he used a sweatband to cover the area instead. The result was a second consecutive good showing: 18 points on eight-of-13 shooting and a team-high 10 assists. . . . Doug Christie on the Lakers’ effort: “Everyone has been trying, but different people try to a different extent.” . . . They take their basketball seriously here. Nick Van Exel, who missed two flights to Charlotte for pre-draft workouts in the spring, prompting the Hornets to pass on him with both of their first-round picks, was booed heavily during pregame introductions. . . . Anthony Peeler led the Lakers with 21 points.