[0] LAKERS WIN IN OAKLAND\Magic gets 21, Lakers finally win in Oakland\LAKERS 106, GOLDEN STATE 103.

Byline: Marc Stein Daily News Staff Writer

Never again will the Lakers visit this city's dark and tiny basketball edifice. They are not sad.

After seven straight losses here, and almost eight, no one in the traveling party was feeling too nostalgic.

Relief was the more prevalent sensation Thursday night, when the Lakers couldn't be sure until the final horn that they would finally win here, claiming a 106-103 escape from Golden State before the usual sellout of 15,025 at Oakland Coliseum Arena.

To break through in a building that will be renovated after the season and re-opened with a state-of-the-art look in 1997, they needed 21 points from a sore-heeled Magic Johnson, 20 points and career-high nine blocks from Elden Campbell and an air ball on the game's last shot - a desperation 3-point try by Bimbo Coles seconds after Joe Smith hit one.

"Well, right down to the last second, we tried to keep the Golden State arena jinx alive, didn't we?" Lakers coach Del Harris said.

Johnson and particularly Campbell spiked it, this Bay Area drought that dated to March 3, 1993.

From Magic came the poise - five straight points down the stretch and the assist, to Nick Van Exel for a layup, that made it 102-97 with 32.8 seconds left and should have sealed the result.

And from Campbell came the evening's outstanding individual performance - his astonishing nine blocks despite being limited to 29 minutes because of foul trouble.

The Lakers (39-22) needed it all to overcome a 28-point, 13-rebound effort from Smith. Then again, they should have known. This, remember, is Oakland, and only now, with their 11th win in 12 away games overall, can the Lakers truly be called road warriors.

"That's why I'm here," Johnson, playing with heel pads in both shoes after sitting out Wednesday's practice, said of his calming influence in the fourth. "Normally, maybe (we) would have been (rattled). That's what I can do for the team."

Campbell, too, seems to understand better what he's able to contribute. After years of inconsistency, he has suddenly become dependable, recording 14 double-doubles in the 21 games before Thursday night.

The Warriors saw Campbell at his best, as he made all five of his first-quarter shots for 12 points and had five blocks by halftime. Only the fouls slowed him, but after sitting out most of the third, Campbell returned to anchor the defense to the end.

He swatted away four shots in the fourth, two in the last minute.

"He's stepped it up in all categories," said Van Exel, pointing out that, with Campbell, talent has never been the issue.

"I guess he's starting to realize it," Van Exel added. "It's starting to show in his game."