[0] IS HARRIS SAFE?; LAKERS BEAT PACERS, DENY VOTING TO OUST COACH : LAKERS 104, INDIANA 95.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

The inevitable result of a season that has seen the Lakers go from NBA championship favorites to underachievers came Wednesday. As is often the case, the Lakers' recent woes have resulted in . . .

A rumor.

The New York Daily News reported Wednesday that Lakers management was set to fire coach Del Harris. Fox Sports jumped in as well, reporting that Harris' players voted 12-0 to oust him.

But the team denied the reports, the players literally laughed at the alleged no-confidence vote and as if to make a point, the Lakers went out and rolled over the Indiana Pacers 104-95 at the sold-out Forum.

The Lakers (40-18) led from start to finish, played one of their best games of the season and beat the Eastern Conference's second-ranked team for the second time in a week, making reports of Harris' imminent ouster look silly or at least untimely.

``Well, it's fortunate,'' Harris said of the win. ``It's an important win. We needed to win in any event.''

Players dismissed any notion that the victory was needed to save Harris' job, but they knew what the win meant to the entire team, which has limped to a 6-7 record since the All-Star break.

``I think Del was happy when the buzzer went off that we had won the game,'' Kobe Bryant said. ``I think he was really stressed out coming into the game, but that's natural.''

Added Derek Fisher: ``We just really wanted to come out and once again prove to ourselves that we are a really good basketball team. Our motivation was that we haven't been playing good basketball.''

Which is, of course, why the rumors began. The Lakers started the season 11-0 and had the second-best record in the NBA for most of the season. But they have struggled over the past month and just returned from their longest road trip of the season with a disappointing 3-3 record.

Lakers executive vice president Jerry West and general manager Mitch Kupchak are both out of town until the end of the week and were not available for comment, but Lakers spokesman John Black said the team was not planning a coaching change.

In the locker room, news of the supposed 12-0 player vote was greeted with surprise and amusement.

``Somebody said that? This ain't the Orlando Magic,'' forward Robert Horry said, laughing, then added, ``There wouldn't be 12, because I would have voted against it.

``We haven't even sat together as a team and talked about us yet. We haven't done anything. I don't know where people get stories from.''

Every player interviewed denied the vote report and most offered statements of support for Harris. ``I like Del, I've learned a lot from him and he's stuck up for me. He's a good guy,'' team captain and franchise player Shaquille O'Neal said.

O'Neal said he's ``not even worried about'' the reports, ``because usually when something is about to go down like that, (the news) will come through here first. Y'all (in the media) would get it later. This time it's all backwards. That's why nobody's really panicking.''

Most players said Harris is doing a good job and that the team's recent struggles are the entire team's responsibility.

``When you lose and people think you ought to be doing better, everybody wants to point (at the coach),'' Fisher said. ``It still comes down to us getting the job done.''

Harris said he hasn't spoken to West for about a week. The veteran coach, in his 13th season as an NBA head coach and fourth with the Lakers, was upbeat and outwardly unconcerned.

``I'd rather read good things about old Del, of course,'' Harris said. ``I've been doing this for 20 years. I can deal with most the things you throw at me. . . . I've done pretty well just trusting God's will and things have worked out pretty well.''

The 60-year-old Harris has a career record of 529-447 with Houston, Milwaukee and the Lakers, and his win total ranks 17th in NBA history. The Lakers are 197-107 with Harris at the helm.

Fond of basketball history, and able to cite anecdotes from his own career with ease, Harris delved into his past to offer perspective on the current state of affairs.

``Back in '80-81, the New York papers fired me four separate times on my way to the NBA finals (with Houston),'' Harris said, ``so this may be a good thing.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Elden Campbell of the Lakers blocks the shot of Indiana's Antonio Davis.

(2) Kobe Bryant of the Lakers tries one of his acrobatic shots against Indiana's Mark West. The team seemed little affected by rumors.

(3) Lakers coach Del Harris said he's been fired in the newspapers before, when with Houston.

David Sprague/Daily News