Lakers Get Hot in Nick of Time, Defeat Bulls : Pro basketball: Van Exel’s 22 points, including five three-pointers, and Vlade Divac’s 27 points lead to 97-89 victory.

CHICAGO â€”  Laker players thought Tuesday’s practice was pay back, their chance to haze Nick Van Exel with reminders of how B.J. Armstrong had gone for 28 points when the Chicago Bulls came to the Forum in November, the return for Van Exel’s quickness to ride them after bad showings.

Van Exel had another idea. He decided to make Wednesday night at Chicago Stadium the real pay back: 22 points, 17 in the second half, and five three-pointers to tie a team record for the third time this season as the Lakers beat the Bulls, 97-89, before 18,146.

Armstrong? He had 10 points, on three-of-nine shooting.

It was Van Exel’s streaky rookie season all wrapped into one game. He came in shooting 31.7% the previous 12 outings, then opened two of 11 against the struggling Bulls, a struggle that lasted nearly to the end of the third quarter. Then, with 1:53 left, he sank a three-pointer. Two possessions later, he made another, then followed that with a third.

Combined with another standout game from Vlade Divac--27 points and 11 rebounds--that was the spark as the Lakers built a 14-point lead with 8:07 left. When the Bulls used a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to 87-84 with 3:12 to go, the pair stepped up again. Divac made two freethrows, Van Exel made a three-pointer, then a short runner down the lane, then made four straight from the line.

“When he gets a streak like that going,� Coach Randy Pfund said, “you let him run the table.�

Said Van Exel, who finished by making five of his last seven shots: “He really doesn’t allow me to do it, I just do it. It’s not like I need a green light or anything. Right now I say I’m undisciplined. Put it like that.�

Or put it like this: The Lakers had a 97-89 advantage after the second Van Exel power surge of the half and were only 31 seconds away from their third victory in five games and a third consecutive win at Chicago Stadium.

“The first three did not feel good,� Van Exel said. “B.J. or John (Paxson) kind of hit my arm as they went by. I said, ‘Let me throw up another one and see what happens.’ �

Everyone saw, just as everyone knew this run by the Lakers and their cocky, erratic rookie couldn’t have come at a worse time for the home team and their faithful, already at odds. Tensions were high from the day before, when fans awoke to read that Scottie Pippen, upset at being booed in a Monday loss to Cleveland, turned it into a racial issue and said he had never heard a white Bull player get booed at Chicago Stadium, apparently forgetting he has a teammate named Will Perdue.

He issued an apology for that comment and for ripping General Manager Jerry Krause for not making a trade before last week’s deadline, saying they came in the frustration of the defeat. This time, Pippen apparently forgot that the digs at Krause came before the Cavalier game.

Pippen got a mixed greeting Wednesday, with a fair amount of boos. He was, at least, pleased about moving back from shooting guard to small forward as Pete Myers returned to the opening lineup. If it made him feel any better, plenty of Bulls regardless of color were booed en route to losing for the fifth time in seven home games since the All-Star break.

“We’re playing through the boos,� said Pippen, who finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. “When you’re losing, you really have to play through it.�

The Bulls also had to play through injuries. Toni Kukoc started at power forward in place of Horace Grant, slowed by back spasms, though Grant did enter in the second half to contribute 11 rebounds in 22 minutes. Also, Luc Longley opened at center for Scott Williams, who had a sore throat.