Lakers Take a Break From Difficult Times : Pro basketball: Fourth-quarter rally beats Phoenix, 107-102, and ends four-game losing streak.

Beaten up and most days just plain beaten, the Lakers bagged big game Thursday night at the Forum.

So the Phoenix Suns are struggling, with a 3-4 record since Charles Barkley was injured?

Try telling the Lakers this wasn’t a huge victory, 107-102, before 14,741 at the Forum as James Worthy scored 22 points and Sedale Threatt scored 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to end a four-game losing streak.

“Feisty basketball,” Laker Coach Randy Pfund said. “I’d like to see us play like that every night.”

The Lakers trailed, 73-70, entering the fourth quarter, then scored on their first three possessions to tie the score and took the lead on Tony Smith’s driving layup with 9:34 remaining. That made it 81-79, an advantage that would grow to as many as 12 points, 95-83, with 5:20 to go.

The Suns responded with a 7-0 rally. It became a four-point game, 101-97, when Frank Johnson hit a three-pointer for Phoenix with 48 seconds to play. The margin became three points when, after Vlade Divac made two free throws, Oliver Miller connected for the Suns from behind the three-point arc with 34 seconds to play.

The Lakers called a timeout, then another when Worthy couldn’t find an open man for the entry pass at halfcourt.

Finally, Nick Van Exel ended up with the ball, trapped in the corner by A.C. Green and Cedric Ceballos until stepping on the baseline. But Green was called for tugging on Van Exel’s jersey, sending the rookie point guard to the free-throw line.

Before he could shoot the first, Phoenix Coach Paul Westphal was ejected for arguing the call. Threatt made the technical free throw with 21.2 seconds left, but Van Exel missed both free throws.

The Suns went for a three-pointer and the tie, but Joe Kleine missed. George Lynch got the rebound for the Lakers, then traveled.

No problem. Lynch made up for that moments later when he knocked the ball away from Miller.

The Suns quickly fouled Threatt. He made both free throws for an insurmountable 107-100 lead with 10 seconds left.

Well separated in the standings, the teams were close in the injury department, the Suns without Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson and the Lakers without Anthony Peeler and Doug Christie. The difference, besides that two are stars and two are second-year players, was that Phoenix still had several other dependable weapons.

The Lakers? Their highest-scoring player able to accelerate to a jog is Van Exel, who began the night averaging 12.7 points. Their backcourt was down to a three people in the truest sense--Van Exel, Tony Smith and Threatt. Their hopes for stepping up the pace to reach, say, 28 or 30 victories, appear slim.

“I don’t like excuses,” General Manager Jerry West said. “Every player has to look himself in the mirror and examine his own performance every day. . . . One thing, when people put the name ‘professional’ in front of you, it means being able to handle adversity. That might be tough for some of the young guys, but they can’t find excuses in injuries.”

Said Pfund: “We keep talking that the way out of this is to work hard and play hard, that we are going to get our crack and get a win and then get another win. The guys know we are in a tough spot.”

Laker Notes

Are Elden Campbell’s days as a Laker numbered? While he continues to frustrate with stretches of lethargic play, league sources said his name has started to come up in trade rumors with several teams, some of whom apparently called the Lakers. General Manager Jerry West refused to confirm or deny the trade talks.