Consistent Divac Fuels the Lakers : Pro basketball: His 18 points, 13 rebounds help beat the Timberwolves, 90-88, for L.A.’s third victory in a row.

Forget for a moment that Vlade Divac hasn’t exactly faced Hall of Fame centers of late, that the only one in the last six games with any real credibility, Vin Baker, is probably really a power forward. Forget that because Divac has done just as much damage this season against David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon as against Lorenzo Williams and Luc Longley.

Divac had 18 points and 13 rebounds against the likes of Mike Brown, Tellis Frank and Stacey King as the Lakers scored a 90-88 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. This was the Lakers’ third victory in a row and fifth in seven games.

In the most consistent stretch of his most consistent season, Divac is averaging 17.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists the last 21 games. His work in front of 17,255 at the Target Center came one game after he joined Scottie Pippen, Kenny Anderson, Ron Harper and Robinson as the only players to have more than one triple-double this season.

Divac has also led the Lakers in assists in nine of the last 17 games, has already established a single-season career high in that category with 23 games remaining and trails only Robinson in assists among all centers.

“That’s what makes me so happy,” Divac said. “Last year, I really tried to find myself, especially after the injury (a back problem in 1991-92). People were booing. I don’t deserve that. I know the Lakers pay me a lot of money, but that was not fair. So I decided that when I finish playing, I don’t want to owe anybody.

“The most important thing for me is the confidence. When I’ve got confidence, I feel great, that I am a great player. When I lose confidence, I’m so bad.

“I’ve never played so long at the same level. No more up and down games--today 20 points, tomorrow two. Now, I just keep going.”

The Lakers are going along, too, having come to to rely on Divac and Sedale Threatt as their only consistent players. Coach Randy Pfund went so far as to call Divac the go-to guy, words that as recently as last season would have sounded hollow.

Against the Timberwolves, Divac scored six points in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers overcome a four-point deficit to a team that came in with a seven-game losing streak and was without its two best players, injured Christian Laettner and Doug West. Divac’s two free throws with 16 seconds remaining gave the Lakers an 89-86 lead they never lost.

The Timberwolves had a chance to tie and tried to get the ball to three-point specialist Chuck Person. But Person dropped the short pass from Micheal Williams along the left sideline, allowing George Lynch to pick it up and preserve the victory.

“I’m not going to take credit for that steal,” said Lynch, who played a more significant role by scoring eight of his his 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Fouled immediately, Lynch made one free throw to give the Lakers a four-point lead.