Lakers Doomed at Home : Pro basketball: No matter where they play, Spurs have no trouble with L.A., 107-99.

The Forum had become fabulous again, or at least a safe haven from the considerable dangers of the road. Four-and-a-half weeks, seven Laker home games, all victories.

Then San Antonio came to town. Wouldn’t you know it.

“It’s disappointing for that,” Nick Van Exel said of the home winning streak ending, 107-99, Thursday night before 17,505 as David Robinson had 29 points and five blocks and Will Perdue contributed 15 rebounds.

“It’s also disappointing that it’s San Antonio. It’s like the Raiders and the Chiefs. If the Raiders could beat the Chiefs, maybe they would get over the hump. And maybe if we could beat the Spurs, we could get over the hump.

“We can’t beat ‘em. So I guess we’re still trying to get over that hill.”

The Spurs have won 13 of the last 16 meetings with the Lakers, including 4-2 in the second round of last season’s playoffs. And if it’s the Alamodoom in Texas, things aren’t much better here, where San Antonio has won six of seven.

“It’s a big letdown tonight,” Anthony Peeler said after another strong game off the bench with 12 points. “And this is one of the teams we need to get through to get to the title.”

This time, they couldn’t even get through the first half.

With Cedric Ceballos in the starting lineup despite his bruised left knee, but obviously not 100%, most of the Lakers fell into the limp mode early. When they found their stride, it was too late.

“We really got into the game right at the beginning and got them on their heels,” Spur Coach Bob Hill said. “And then we came out in the third quarter and kind of kept them there.”

Ceballos, playing with a soft brace on the knee, could say he was hurt. What was the other Lakers’ excuse?

They stayed close through the opening minutes of the second quarter, then got lapped, victims of a 25-8 run by the Spurs the final 8:14 of the half. Chuck Person had 11 of the San Antonio points in that stretch--including three three-point baskets--and the Lakers had a 20-point deficit at intermission.

So much for the great improvement on defense. Having given up an average of 91 points the three previous games, the Lakers were hit for 60 in the first half.

The lead got as big as 25 in the third quarter, 67-42. A Laker comeback amounted to them getting within 13 points on a couple of occasions, including 77-64 at the end of the period.

Baskets on the first two trips of the fourth quarter cut the deficit to nine. When Peeler made two free throws with 7:47 remaining, it was seven.

The margin was still seven with 2:01 left, but that’s where the Laker rally ended. Ceballos, en route to 26 minutes and a season-low 13 points, opened the final quarter on the bench, then entered with 5:34 to go, just in time to be called for traveling, miss inside and have a shot blocked by Robinson the next three possessions.

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Laker Notes

The Lakers are at least intrigued at the unexpected availability of Antonio Harvey, released Thursday by Vancouver in a surprise to most around his former team. Coach Del Harris has mentioned on several occasions how the Lakers miss Harvey’s enthusiasm on the bench, although they have improved in that area of late, and the reserve big man, having spent the previous two seasons with the club, would already be familiar with the system and teammates. Said General Manager Mitch Kupchak when asked if the Lakers have any interest in bringing Harvey back: “I’m sure we’ll discuss it.” How strongly is the question. The Lakers first want answers on why someone playing almost 23 minutes a game got cut, and Kupchak said his conversation with Vancouver counterpart Stu Jackson offered no real insight. If interest remains, the decision might then come down to whether the Lakers would rather have Harvey or Pig Miller as fourth-string power forward. Either way, they’ll have to wait the 48 hours for Harvey to clear waivers because of salary-cap restrictions. It’s not automatic that will happen, with several teams with spending room, including the Clippers, having already been mentioned. . . . The Spurs had only 10 players available. Carl Herrera had returned to San Antonio earlier Thursday after his two-week-old daughter had taken ill and Greg Anderson remained in Houston after the death of his father on Christmas Eve. But neither power forward had been playing much lately.