Lakers Eye Stand at Alamo : Pro basketball: Not only is team a loss away from vacation, but it has never won at Spur home.

Of all the places for what could be their last shot, the Lakers got this one--an arena where they can’t make a shot and the Spurs have the dome-court advantage

Down 3-1, back to the Alamodoom they go--it’s known to the rest of the NBA as the Alamodome--for tonight’s Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Suddenly, Boston Garden in June with a broken air conditioner doesn’t seem so bad. In six trips here since the building opened before the 1993-94 season, four in the regular season and two in these playoffs, the Lakers are 0-6. They have averaged 93.2 points and shot 40.8%.

Their best showing here was 46.3% on Jan. 2. Twice they failed to surpass 40%, and once they made 40.2%. Players have mentioned how difficult it can be to play in such a cavernous setting.

“But we shouldn’t let it get in our minds,” Nick Van Exel said. “We shouldn’t have anybody talking about it. We’ve just got to go out there and play our game. This could be our last game. And I’m not ready to go home.”

Then again, maybe it’s not a San Antonio thing, as much as it is a Spur thing. The Lakers shot 43.2% in the four regular-season meetings, compared to 46.3% overall against the league, then went 40.2%, 39.1%, 44.2% and 36% to open the series, the last two at the Forum.

Sunday included a 32-point second half, low-lighted by 12 points and five-for-20 shooting in the third quarter. When it was over, the Lakers had 71 points, tying a franchise record for low playoff score, and needing Anthony Peeler’s three-point shot with 51 seconds left to get that.

“Obviously we’re not happy to be 3-1,” Coach Del Harris said. “We fully expected that we would win the game and be 2-2 going down. It’s just a taller mountain. It’s not one that can’t be climbed, but we’ve made it more difficult. In any case, our mind-set in going there would have to have been, ‘Let’s get the game.’ That hasn’t changed.”

Neither has the Lakers’ attitude.

“I think we’ve got a good shot,” Van Exel said. “We know what we can do. I think everybody on this team feels like we can beat that team. We’ve just got to stay positive. I don’t think we’re ready to give up yet. There’s a lot of fight left in us and we’re going to come out and play hard.”

Said Cedric Ceballos, “It’s not over with yet. It takes four to get out of here. We’re in a tough situation. Really tough. This is the toughest you can get in a series. But we’re going to try and fight hard so we can extend this series.”

They’re also in an unusual situation. No one is sure how the Lakers will react to facing elimination for the first time, this team that knew for the final couple of weeks that it had the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference all but clinched. The test in the first round of the playoffs was to recover from a Game 1 loss to Seattle, which the Lakers did nicely. They won the next three outings and avoided a deciding fifth game.

Now, though, they are 48 minutes away from elimination. If they play badly this time, the season is over.

Are the Spurs ready to send them packing?

Wonder what gave it away. Maybe that Sunday comment by Willie Anderson: “I’m pretty sure we are going to run away with it.”

Or this from Sean Elliott: “The Lakers had their day of fame [in Game 3]. Now it’s back to reality.”

Laker Notes

San Antonio Coach Bob Hill said he will decide before the game whether to play Dennis Rodman, who was held out Sunday at the Forum in a disciplinary move. “I hope the suspension is for one game,” Rodman said, although technically he was benched and not suspended. “If it’s more than that, I think it’s unfair.” . . . The Spurs’ 80-71 victory Sunday was the second-lowest scoring game in NBA playoff history. The record is 145 points, set when Ft. Wayne (now the Detroit Pistons) beat Syracuse (now the Philadelphia 76ers), 74-71, on April 7, 1945. . . . David Robinson and Dennis Rodman made the NBA All-Defensive team along with Chicago’s Scottie Pippen, Seattle’s Gary Payton and Atlanta’s Mookie Blaylock.