NBA PLAYOFFS : Lakers Face Real Can of Worms Now : Pro basketball: They come up cold in 80-71 loss to Spurs and fall behind in series, 3-1. Rodman benched.

They had packed and stacked equipment in the empty Laker locker room by late afternoon, ready for it to be shipped to San Antonio. That much of the itinerary was set. When it had to be back, that was the uncertain part.

A couple of days?

October?

That’s how close the Lakers are to summer vacation. They are only one defeat away after losing to the San Antonio Spurs, sans Dennis Rodman, in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, 80-71, in a Sunday matinee before 17,505 at the Forum. The end could come as soon as Tuesday at the Alamodome--unless this was the end.

“I’m sure some of their guys are saying it’s over,” Spur Willie Anderson said after San Antonio’s lead in the best-of-seven series reached 3-1. “There’s no way in the world we are going to let it go at home. I am pretty sure we are going to run away with it when we get them Tuesday.”

The Lakers brought their own cigarettes and blindfolds Sunday. San Antonio supplied the wall.

The Lakers scored 71 points to tie the franchise playoff low, set in Game 1 of the first round against Seattle.

They shot 36% and set a postseason record by making only 27 shots, breaking the Laker mark of 28 done several times before.

They committed 18 turnovers, including four in five possessions of a critical second-half stretch--and the other time a shot was blocked.

“Today was really the first time we played like ourselves,” said San Antonio center David Robinson, who had 26 points and 22 rebounds. “We came out in the beginning of the game and really showed some effort on the defensive side. We got everybody together, some rhythm to our offense. I think this is really the first game of the series that we really stepped it up and played the way we are capable of playing.”

Likewise, the tone was set early on the Laker side: Vlade Divac, going for a follow basket on Nick Van Exel’s miss on their first possession, bounced a dunk off the rim. By the end of the opening quarter, they were down 10 points and had shot 28%.

There was no warming trend in sight. The Lakers shot 37.5% in the first half, but, amazingly, they were behind only 46-39. A third-quarter rally got them within 50-49 with 5:21 remaining.

What a strange time for the wheels to come off. The Spurs, in the process of going an incredible 9:19 without a basket, held the line by making five free throws in six tries on their next three trips. The six-point lead provided some breathing room again.

Then Eddie Jones charged into Doc Rivers in the backcourt, and J.R. Reid turned that turnover into dunk with 2:18 left. It was San Antonio’s first field goal since 11:37 remained. Moments later, Rivers stole the ball from George Lynch, and this time Chuck Person cashed it in for a driving layup. The next possession, Jones’ bad pass was intercepted by Sean Elliott.

Finally, the Lakers avoided a turnover. This was a pleasant alternative, although in the end not such great news because the first time they were close to the rim in about 1 minute 45 seconds, Robinson stuffed Lynch’s shot.

The implosion was almost complete. All that remained was for Robinson to grab Van Exel’s bad pass and for Reid to convert it into another layup. Suddenly, with 43 seconds remaining in the quarter, the Lakers were in an 11-point hole.

“Today,” Coach Del Harris lamented later, “our ballhandling let us down.”

Down, but not out. The Lakers opened the fourth quarter by making three of their first four shots to close to 65-58. But that was followed by four consecutive turnovers, and they were back on their heels.

There was time left for a final rally, this time getting the Lakers within 74-66 when Van Exel, who made only four of 16 shots in 42 minutes while bothered by back spasms, banked in a runner down the lane with 2:39 left. The Spurs responded by scoring on three of their next four possessions to slam the door.

It was almost enough to forget about Rodman. Almost.

In uniform, but held out for the entire game as a disciplinary move after he stayed out of the huddle and got into a verbal exchange with Coach Bob Hill on Friday, he sat at the end of the bench and chatted with fans in the second half. He was passing the time, sometimes leaning back and crossing his legs, one time in the fourth quarter not bothering to join a huddle.

Terry Cummings started in his place and, though he missed eight of 10 shots, grabbed nine rebounds in 33 minutes. Reid compensated for the offense, making five of six shots en route to 15 points in 17 minutes.

“They had a little animosity over there and we should have taken advantage of it,” Van Exel said. “But we didn’t.”

There’s always Tuesday. Beyond that, who knows?