Lakers Excel Against Bullets : Pro basketball: Van Exel scores 21 as team routs Washington, 129-94, to keep winning on court and losing in player draft.

What price victory?

Laker fans wonder that on a regular basis these days, with their team winning and maybe only getting into trouble because of it. The more victories, the fewer Ping-Pong balls in the lottery. Therein lies the rub.

“To be honest, what they say is probably right,” Sedale Threatt sad Wednesday night, when the Lakers routed the Washington Bullets, 129-94, at the Forum for their sixth victory in the last nine games. “But as a player, that’s not in my mind.”

Therein lies the Laker approach. While they can only lose for winning--and now face the possibility of getting the 10th or 11th pick in the draft instead of the top-six choice they were once on track for--a tone is being set: Losses are not good.

It was that way on the final night of the 1991-92 regular season too. The Lakers could have gone into the lottery, but instead went into overtime against the Clippers and won to earn a playoff berth. How disappointed were they? General Manager Jerry West said afterward, “I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a Laker team.”

Said Threatt: “Because of our record and the fact that we are rebuilding, we definitely want to go in and get a good pick. But it’s tough on a guy like myself who has always been in the playoffs. I’m a winner and I want us to go out and win every game.”

Said Laker Coach Randy Pfund: “There’s not a coach who doesn’t try to win basketball games. That’s what we try to do. I understand that mentality, of people wanting a top draft choice. . . . But, to me, I’d rather stay on the side of doing more than people thought we would.”

With 21 games left, 13 of them at the Forum, the Lakers are five games behind Denver for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. But the Nuggets are entering what could best be described as the slow-pitch portion of their schedule: the Clippers, Sacramento, Washington, Milwaukee, Miami and Dallas being propped up in the next six outings, the only away game coming tonight at the Sports Arena.

The Lakers inched a half-game closer by routing Washington, going ahead by 18 points in the first quarter while shooting 66.7% and by 24 at halftime, 69-45, at 63.3%. When the teams met 11 days ago in Landover, Md., the Bullets, looking to capture the season series for the first time since 1975-76, had scored 45 points by the time the second period was barely two minutes old.

But unlike the Lakers’ last home game, when the Mavericks came back from a 28-point first-quarter deficit to temporarily take the lead before falling, there was no comeback for the Bullets, who fell behind by as many as 38 points in the second half and got no closer than 24.

All 11 Lakers--James Edwards is in Seattle to be with his sick mother--scored. Nick Van Exel led the way with 21 points and 11 assists and Elden Campbell had 18 points and 10 assists en route to the Lakers’ highest scoring output of the season and the biggest winning margin. Los Angeles also dominated the boards, 61-28.

Laker Notes

Doug Christie played 30 minutes, the most since Jan. 9 against San Antonio at the Forum, his last start and his last game before suffering a badly sprained ankle that sidelined him for 16 games. Many of the minutes Wednesday came at his old position, small forward. . . . Rex Chapman had 24 points for the Bullets.