All the Lakers Fall to the Jazz : Pro basketball: After months of missing players, they’re back, but it doesn’t help.

The gang’s all here.

Finally.

The original Lakers of 1994-95 were back together more or less Tuesday night after nearly four months, just in time to be taken apart again for nearly three quarters in a 100-93 loss to the Utah Jazz before 19,911 at the Delta Center.

Tony Smith, who had missed nine games because of a strained calf, and George Lynch, sidelined 23 games because of a stress fracture of the right foot, were activated earlier in the day, and Lloyd Daniels was waived and Kurt Rambis went on the injured list because of a back strain. For the first time since Dec. 30--a stretch of 49 games--the Lakers had their opening-night roster, their roster of preference, intact.

The only asterisk needed was that Sedale Threatt was not in uniform because of a strained abdominal muscle that should also keep him out tonight at Sacramento. But that injury is not believed serious, so the Lakers are finally in one piece again.

However minor, Threatt’s absence was significant against the Jazz after Nick Van Exel was ejected because of two rapid-fire technical fouls with 7:30 to play in the third quarter. The first came from Tom Washington for arguing a charging call, and then the second immediately following came from Ed T. Rush. When Jeff Hornacek converted both free throws, the Jazz had a 68-55 lead.

Now the Lakers were without their No. 1 and No. 2 point guards. The call went to Smith, primarily a swingman. All he did was respond with five assists without a turnover--even more impressive considering it came after a lengthy layoff and against John Stockton--to help the rally that led to an 87-87 tie in the fourth quarter.

“He came in and ran the ballclub superbly,” Coach Del Harris said. “I thought he did a magnificent job. He’s the one, more than anybody, that gave us a chance to stay in the ballgame.”

Said Smith: “It was fun to be back on the court. With a game tight like that, it takes away some of the pain I might have been feeling. When I came into the locker room, that’s when it came back.”

Four days after beating the Jazz by 23 points at the Forum, the Lakers weren’t feeling so great. Their chance for victory after trailing by 15 points late in the second quarter slipped away when Utah responded with an 11-4 run to turn the tie into an insurmountable 98-91 advantage with 42 seconds left.

Karl Malone had three points and three rebounds in that run, the offense coming after he snatched a potential defensive rebound away from Laker Elden Campbell to go right back up and get fouled. It was all part of Malone finishing with 30 points and 14 rebounds, both game highs.

“We made a good effort to come back after being down,” Smith said. “It was one of those situations where one guy goes out, a lot of tempers are flaring up and teams get fired up behind that. We fought back, but we just came up short down the stretch.”

Laker Notes

Eddie Jones had 23 points for the Lakers and Elden Campbell added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Nick Van Exel left after going two for eight from the field with eight turnovers and four assists in 24 minutes. . . . Kurt Rambis can be activated again before the playoffs if needed, but that would only happen in case of injury. He figures to become a special assistant coach again. But Lloyd Daniels, who had to be waived because he had no injury, can’t return because league rules stipulate that players cut after March 1 are disqualified from any playoff roster. . . . Utah’s victory combined with San Antonio’s loss against Portland moved the Jazz within 2 1/2 games of the Spurs for the Midwest Division title and the best record in the Western Conference. Phoenix is also 2 1/2 games back, with Seattle three behind. Whoever finishes fourth out of that group will probably play the Lakers in the first round. And now the schedule has turned in Utah’s favor. The next three opponents are the three worst in the West--the Golden State Warriors, Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

*

More on the Lakers

* The TimesLink on-line service has an expanded Lakers section, with schedules, statistics and updates provided by the team. Sign on and “jump” to keyword

“Lakers.”

Details on Times electronic services, B4