Van Exel Guns Down Seattle : Pro basketball: He comes alive just in time to lead 17-2 spurt that gives Lakers an improbable 128-121 overtime victory.

The chambers were empty. Nick Van Exel, having been fitted with a silencer named Gary Payton, would cause the Seattle SuperSonics no harm on this day.

Or so it seemed. The Lakers knew better.

“You know Nick,” teammate Cedric Ceballos said.

Today, the SuperSonics know this Nick: the one who woke from a 3 1/2-quarter slumber with a vengeance, the one who turned the tables and dominated Payton when it mattered most, the one who scored 13 points in the critical 17-2 run that carried the Lakers to a 128-121 overtime victory Saturday afternoon before 17,426 at the Tacoma Dome.

The SuperSonics already knew Elden Campbell. When the teams met Dec. 29 at the Forum, he not only had 28 points and 10 rebounds, but he emerged as the go-to guy in scoring six of the last eight Laker points in a 96-95 victory. This time, he went for 27 points and five blocks, both game highs, and, despite getting only four rebounds, also helped hold All-Star counterpart Shawn Kemp to four rebounds, which equaled his season low.

And everyone should know these never-out-of-it Lakers. Not only were they heading to a big loss after falling behind by 17 points early in the second quarter and 14 in the third, they were heading for a big loss after having mostly struggled for the last two weeks.

The Seattle lead was 93-86 heading into the fourth quarter, and Van Exel had six points on two-of-six shooting, two assists and three turnovers, compared to 19 points, 10 assists and one turnover for Payton.

Not only was Van Exel on the bench for the start of the final period, he didn’t come in until only 4:22 remained. The Lakers were down by six to a team that had won 10 of the last 11 overall and 17 of 18 at home. No problem.

When the SuperSonics started to pull away for good, at 111-103 with two minutes left, Van Exel made a floater down the lane, then picked up the loose ball on defense after Vlade Divac knocked away Detlef Schrempf’s bad pass, then came right down and made a three-pointer. It was 111-108 with 1:26 left. When Van Exel made another three, it was 111-111 with 50 seconds to go, which held up for overtime.

Kendall Gill scored on Seattle’s first possession of the extra period, but the Lakers answered with a flurry: Van Exel, layup after getting behind the defense in a half-court situation; Campbell, baseline jumper; Campbell, turn-around bank from the left post; Van Exel, three-pointer to cap the 17-2 charge.

It was 120-113 with 2:09 left.

It was over.

“I don’t know,” SuperSonic Sam Perkins said later when asked what went wrong. “It was so quick.”

It was so Nick.

“As soon as you give him an opportunity, he’s going to run all over you,” Ceballos said. “That’s what teams forget. When we’ve lost, that’s when he’s going to go berserk on you.”

Said Van Exel, who finished with 19 points on seven-of-14 shooting and four three-pointers, but only the two assists against three turnovers: “We dug down deep. Coming back to the huddles, everyone was telling me it was time to take over.”

So he did.

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Laker Notes

Sam Bowie left the game late in the third quarter with what appeared to be a sprained right thumb, though the reserve center was expected to have X-rays taken after returning to Los Angeles later Saturday and is also scheduled to see team physician Steve Lombardo on Monday. Bowie, who has been playing well, suffered the injury when he hit the bottom of the rim while going up to block a shot. . . . The Lakers set a team record with 14 three-pointers Saturday.

The All-Star reserves will be announced on Tuesday. “I think about it a lot,” said Cedric Ceballos, one of the leading candidates as coaches vote for players in their own conference but not on their own team. “But it’s out of my control. If it’s a situation I could control, it would really get to me. This way, I just play as hard as I can and hope for the best. If the coaches like what they see, they like what they see. It would be great to make it, though.” Charles Barkley and Shawn Kemp were named starters in fan balloting, and Karl Malone is an automatic addition, so Ceballos will probably be vying with Danny Manning, Jamal Mashburn, Detlef Schrempf and Cliff Robinson for the final two spots. Nick Van Exel will also get some attention at guard, where Latrell Sprewell and Dan Majerle will start, but should have a more difficult time getting one of the three jobs among the field of John Stockton, Mitch Richmond, Jim Jackson, Gary Payton and Clyde Drexler.