Lakers Show Their Rebound Ability : Pro basketball: Campbell keys 96-95 victory over Seattle after big loss.

The Lakers played the Seattle SuperSonics at the Forum on Thursday night, and the go-to guy was the young athletic power forward, the one who can run the floor with the grace of a much smaller man and the next possession work from the low post.

Take one step forward . . .

Elden Campbell?

Elden Campbell. All-star Shawn Kemp had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the SuperSonics, but it was Campbell who went from a stretch of solid showings to a starring role by scoring six of the Lakers’ final eight points and finishing with a season-high 28 points along with 10 rebounds and six blocks to lead the way in a 96-95 victory before a sellout of 17,505.

It wasn’t as if he stumbled into the spotlight, either. He was the first option on the last two possessions--a turnaround jumper over Sam Perkins from the low post that provided the final margin with 45 seconds remaining and then a short jumper from the left flat. He missed that, but Vlade Divac grabbed the rebound as the final seconds ran out.

“I always want the ball, especially when I can get it that low on the post,” Campbell said. “It was working for us tonight.”

Added Laker Coach Del Harris: “Elden was having the night. We wanted to get the ball inside.”

Poor rebounders under the basket, the Lakers--who also got 35 points and 10 rebounds from Cedric Ceballos--have at least shown the ability to rebound after bad games, a resiliency that has already served them well.

When they lost by 21 to New York, the next outing was an emotional victory over Cleveland, now the Central Division leaders.

When they lost by 38 points at Cleveland, the response was an 18-point Forum victory over Houston, the defending champions.

When they lost by 25 to the Clippers, the follow-up was a seven-point victory at Utah, now the Midwest Division leaders.

“Normally in this league, when you take a bad loss, most teams do respond,” Harris said. “Certainly, good teams do.”

Now, two days after falling behind by 37 points and eventually losing by 24 at Golden State, similar redemption came against a Seattle team that began the night having won 12 of its previous 15 and was pushing Phoenix for the Pacific Division lead. The SuperSonics fell short despite 26 points by Detlef Schrempf and the contributions of Kemp.

“It says we have a confidence,” said Divac, who made only two of 11 shots but did his part with five steals, three blocks and the big offensive rebound to seal the victory. “We have a goal. After a bad game, we want to come back with a good game. That’s what happened tonight.”

The SuperSonics played without swingman Vincent Askew, one of their many defensive stalwarts, who was serving a one-game suspension without pay after refusing to enter Wednesday night’s home contest against Philadelphia in the second quarter. He had done the same thing last season and the following game dressed but did not play. This time, it cost him $19,512.16.

On top of that, Nate McMillan, another key player, was ejected after two rapid-fire technicals from Don Vaden with 9:57 remaining in the first half, apparently after disputing a foul call moments earlier. Ceballos converted both free throws, part of his 22 points in the first half that contributed to the Lakers’ 50-46 lead at intermission.

It was close the rest of the way. The Lakers had a 90-82 lead, but then began turning the ball over, and the SuperSonics had a 95-92 advantage with 1:27 to play. From there, though, Gary Payton missed both free throws with 54 seconds to go and, after Campbell’s go-ahead basket, Schrempf’s cross-court pass from the left flat sailed high and out of bounds with 31.7 seconds showing. Seattle never got another chance.