Lakers a Little Short Again : Pro basketball: Van Exel’s five three-pointers not enough in 122-117 loss to Warriors. Pfund returns, but Christie is out.

Nick Van Exel scored 28 points and tied a Laker regular-season record by making five three-pointers, but that still wasn’t enough Tuesday night.

The Lakers fell to the Golden State Warriors, who got 29 points from Latrell Sprewell in a 122-117 victory at the Forum.

Van Exel is shooting only 39.9% overall, but he has made 12 of 21 three-pointers the last five games. The five against the Warriors tied a record held by Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott and Doug Christie.

For the second consecutive game, the Lakers (11-23) overcame a big deficit to make a game out of a potential rout, only to fall in the end. The comeback this time, from a 15-point hole, lasted until early in the fourth quarter, when Golden State took control for good.

The Warriors’ lead was up to as many as 16 points, 106-90, with 6:30 remaining. The Lakers made one final push, but could get no closer than five points. The final margin came thanks to a three-pointer by Tony Smith, the last of his career-high 24 points.

Coach Randy Pfund returned from his one-game suspension for bumping an official to the news that the Lakers would be without Christie for at least a week and maybe longer, despite X-rays taken earlier Tuesday that confirmed the starting small forward suffered nothing worse than a sprain the day before in practice. Christie was reduced to a slow walk before the game, accompanied by a strong limp.

“I would think from the way he went down, we’re looking at a couple weeks,” the coach said. “That’s my Dr. Pfund estimate.”

The injury, the same one that sidelined Christie for much of training camp, cost the Lakers their leading scorer and third-leading rebounder, discounting Sam Bowie, who is already on the injured list. It also gave rookie George Lynch his first NBA start, coming after back-to-back solid showings off the bench.

The good news for the Lakers, in spite of the injuries to Christie and the strained hip muscle that kept Antonio Harvey out of action, was that they couldn’t go anywhere but up after scoring a team record-low 25 points in the first half Sunday. So they scored 24 in the opening quarter against the Warriors . . . and trailed by 13.

The deficit reached 15, 46-31, before the Lakers, and Van Exel in particular, clocked in. A 14-2 rally, with Van Exel contributing a pair of three-point jumpers and eight points in all during the stretch, brought the Lakers within 48-45.

When Van Exel made another three-pointer, part of his 15 points in the second quarter, the Lakers closed within 51-50. Finally, Elden Campbell’s free throw with 1:10 left before intermission got them even again, for the first time since 14-14. From there, the teams traded baskets before Van Exel converted two more from the line for a 62-60 lead at halftime.

With Anthony Peeler scoring 17 of his points by the break, the starting backcourt combined for 32 of the Lakers’ 62 points. Smith had eight more.

The Warriors, looking for their third victory of the season against the Lakers in as many tries after losing four of five in 1992-93, started to pull away again in the third quarter, building an 82-74 lead. It was 89-80 heading into the fourth, by which time Sprewell had 27 points.