[0] LAKERS' CONFAB IS FAB; AFTER TEAM MEETING, L.A. AIRS OUT KINGS : LAKERS 104, SACRAMENTO 89.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

A day or two off, and maybe the Lakers could have afforded a full-blown exorcism to rid themselves of the evil spirits that haunted them in Tuesday's late collapse to the Utah Jazz. But the NBA schedule being what it is, the Lakers had time only to traverse the state, hold a team meeting and play their third game in three nights - against a team they had yet to solve.

Perhaps the power of the team meeting is the best mojo after all.

Whatever the source of inspiration, the Lakers reversed their recent ill fortunes and trounced the Kings 104-89 on Wednesday at Arco Arena.

And after a disastrous fourth quarter one night earlier, the Lakers played a dominant final frame Wednesday, outscoring Sacramento 28-17 down the stretch for their first win in three tries against the Kings.

``We got everything ironed out in the meeting,'' said Shaquille O'Neal, who paced the Lakers with a game-high 30 points and 18 rebounds. ``But for us to be a good team, we need to know those things already.''

Things like playing team defense and using consistent ball movement to keep the offense chugging. Whether products of the meeting or not, those elements were evident in the victory, which gave the Lakers a 2-1 record in their three-games-in-three-nights run.

``Nice, wasn't it?'' coach Kurt Rambis said of the active offense. ``It was really nice. I know we had a bunch of turnovers (22), but the guys were trying to do the right thing with the basketball.''

And doing it well for most of the game. Kobe Bryant committed a ghastly eight turnovers, but made up for it with 18 points, a team-high seven assists, a career-high six steals and a dominant fourth quarter.

The Lakers took a four-point lead into the final frame, but Bryant rattled off seven straight points, then passed off the duties to O'Neal, who scored eight in a row, to give the Lakers a double-digit lead they wouldn't relinquish.

It also banished another demon - Sacramento was the only Western Conference team the Lakers were winless against this year.

``It's good, because you don't want to let a team feel like it can just dominate you,'' Robert Horry said. ``Sacramento has a funny team. They score a lot of points, and they do a lot of things different from other teams.''

Different things, like the creative playmaking of explosive point guard Jason Williams. For the first time, though, Williams didn't hurt them, and Derek Fisher was the surprise hero taking credit for that.

Just a night earlier, Fisher sat most of the game because of knee tendinitis and watched rookie Tyronn Lue make a stunning debut that appeared to threaten Fisher's playing time. Fisher overcame the injury and shrugged off everything else to score 19 points - eight in the fourth quarter - and played solid defense for 34 minutes against Williams.

``I felt disappointed that I couldn't be out there (Tuesday),'' Fisher said. ``Missing a game like that, I played eight minutes, but that's the first one in my career (not playing due to injury). I can't stand it. I have to be unable to walk or run to not play. . . .

``I just wanted to reassert myself, for myself.''

Fisher's performance led a 39-point effort from the bench. Rick Fox added 11.

The day began with an introspective team meeting in place of the usual morning shootaround. That was more a product of the Lakers' heavy schedule - they played their fifth game in six days - than any need to rehash the mistakes of the night before. But a rehash was in order as well after the fourth-quarter debacle against the Jazz.

Defense was the primary topic of discussion, accompanied by lowlight film of their mistakes.

``It's not the same people all the time,'' Rambis said, ``and it's not the same mistakes all the time, but there always seems to be a breakdown of somebody doing something wrong sometime.''

This time, at least a few somethings were done right by somebody most of the time.