Lakers Come Up Short : Pro basketball: With only eight players, they get run over by the Trail Blazers, 111-93.

The Lakers took a standing eight-count Friday, partly from being punched around and partly from having only eight players left standing in uniform.

A night after upsetting Phoenix with nine available, they lost Tony Smith to a sprained left ankle, then faced the streaking Portland Trail Blazers with a bench of James Worthy, James Edwards and Kurt Rambis and braced for the impact. It came, though without the full force--a 111-93 defeat before another sellout of 12,888 at Memorial Coliseum.

“We did the layup drills with one ball at one point,” Nick Van Exel said after getting 13 points and 10 assists while playing 42 minutes.

The good news: The Lakers, off until Wednesday, can heal now. When they do return, it will be with only two games next week, both against teams they have already defeated on the road, Indiana and Detroit.

Depleted doesn’t begin to describe the Lakers’ plight. Sedale Threatt went into the starting lineup for the first time this season, replacing the injured Smith, who had replaced the injured Anthony Peeler. CBA pickup Reggie Jordan was at the game, but he can’t play until taking a physical today and signing a 10-day contract, taking the roster spot that opened when Peeler went on the injured list earlier in the day.

The Lakers’ starting guards--Threatt, who had 25 points and a career-high seven steals in 42 minutes, and Van Exel--were their only guards. Depth in the backcourt was Worthy.

All this came as the Trail Blazers got some good news--the return of Clyde Drexler after 13 games on the sideline because of a sprained ankle. He went right into the starting lineup, which moved Terry Porter to a reserve role for the first time this season, and finished with 11 points on two-of-seven shooting.

Any Laker hopes for a second surprising victory in as many nights were quickly dismissed. The Trail Blazers, in running their season-best winning streak to five games, led by 10 points early in the second quarter and went ahead by 20 with 1:01 left before halftime. It was 62-43 at intermission, by which time Clifford Robinson had 17 of his 23 points.

The Lakers got as close as 11 points twice in the third quarter, only to be turned back before being able to cut the deficit to single digits. They made another rally late, but that was against the likes of Reggie Smith, Jaren Jackson and James Robinson, and it got them only within 12 with 1:11 left.

Elden Campbell led the Lakers with a career-high 27 points. His previous best (25) also came at Portland, on March 3, 1992.

Laker Notes

The Lakers have found some positives amid all the injuries. Doug Christie’s injury meant a chance for George Lynch, who responded by averaging 15.3 points and 8.5 rebounds and shooting 64.3% in four starts before Friday. Anthony Peeler being lost for at least a month meant the Lakers got more minutes for their best defensive guard, Tony Smith. And Peeler suffering the stress fracture meant he hadn’t changed the style that helped make his rookie season successful by choice. He did it because of the leg injury that had been bothering him since the exhibition games. “Now we know why Anthony Peeler wasn’t driving to the basket and why we weren’t getting consistent play out of him,” Coach Randy Pfund said. “To me, that’s a good sign. That’s a sign that maybe he is still what we thought he was a year ago.”

Nick Van Exel has already set a team record for three-pointers made by a rookie. It took him 37 games to pass the 46 set by Peeler, meaning Van Exel is barely off the pace to break the Laker mark of 104 by Magic Johnson in 1989-90. Also, when Van Exel scored 29 points last Friday against Charlotte, it was the most points by a Laker rookie since Johnson in 1980. . . . The Trail Blazers are getting involved in Southern California’s earthquake recovery. The team has pledged to supply 3,500 gallons of bottled water, and every fan attending Tuesday’s game at Memorial Coliseum against New Jersey is being asked to donate at least $1 toward the relief effort. . . . To clear a roster spot for Clyde Drexler, the Trail Blazers put Kevin Thompson on the injured list with tendinitis in his right Achilles’.