[0] SWEEPLESS IN HOUSTON; PIPPEN, BARKLEY SHOW ROCKETS NOT DONE YET : HOUSTON 102 LAKERS 88.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

Drunk on two straight wins and energized by a devastating rout, the Lakers were poised to sweep a Hall of Fame trio right out of the playoffs. And then an obvious truth set in: Old legends don't go down that easily.

A new, youthful-looking Houston Rockets team emerged Thursday in the comfort of the Compaq Center, and the team anchored by three of the greatest players in NBA history made a stand when it had to. The legends made the upstarts pay.

The Rockets were as thoroughly dominating in their 102-88 Game 3 victory as the Lakers had been in Game 2. And with Scottie Pippen torching the Lakers for a career playoff-high 37 points and Charles Barkley torturing them with 30 points and 23 rebounds, the Rockets pulled themselves back from the brink of premature elimination.

They can even the best-of-five series at two games each with a win Saturday at Compaq Center.

All the Lakers could do afterward was tip their hats.

``I don't think it's disappointing,'' coach Kurt Rambis said. ``They're a talented ballclub, they've got great players on their team. At the beginning of the series, if we thought we were gonna waltz through this thing and just win three straight, we were only kidding ourselves.''

The Rockets showed all of the energy, hustle and poise the Lakers had in Game 2, while the Lakers showed only glimpses of it.

Houston outrebounded the Lakers 54-42. The Rockets took 19 offensive rebounds, converting them into 20 second-chance points. They had three times as many steals (9 to 3) and forced 14 turnovers, leading to 15 points.

``They were more intense than us, they got all the loose balls,'' Shaquille O'Neal said.

And the Lakers just kept misfiring under the frenzied pace. They hit 37.8 percent of their field goals, and Shaquille O'Neal (26 points, 10 rebounds) was the only Laker who made an impact - and even then, he hit just 9 of 22 shots.

Kobe Bryant got in early foul trouble guarding Pippen and finished with 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Glen Rice had a seven-point first quarter then faded, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

Nowhere on the court, on the bench or back in the locker room could the Lakers find an answer for Pippen. The former Bull had been left for dead after two ineffective games, but he quickly morphed back into the multitalented, end-to-end weapon that won six rings in Chicago.

Skewered all week by the Houston media, Pippen found quick redemption. His line also included 13 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a blocked shot.

``I kept missing some easy baskets (early), but I had so much energy and will power not to give up tonight. I wasn't going to be denied this opportunity for us to win a playoff game.''

Especially an elimination game.

Pippen went to work early, turning to his post-up game to get in the flow. Bryant, so effective against him in the first two games, suddenly seemed overmatched.

``I got some quick and early fouls on (Bryant), and he was just at my mercy at that point,'' Pippen said.

Bryant just smiled afterward and credited Pippen with a good game.

``He did a good job of being aggressive,'' said Bryant, who admitted to getting tentative after his two first-quarter fouls. ``That's something that I shouldn't have worried about. You just have to go out there and be aggressive and play hard regardless of foul trouble. It won't happen again.''

The Rockets, who had never led by more than seven points in this series, took a 10-point lead into the intermission after overcoming an early 11-point deficit.

It was late in the third quarter before the Lakers regained the lead, but it was short-lived. Barkley and Pippen combined for all the points in a 9-1 run to close out the quarter and take a 76-69 lead into the fourth.

A loss was unwelcome, but the desperate charge from Pippen and the Rockets was not at all unexpected.

``I expected it,'' Rice said. ``I tried to tell the guys, hey, these guys are gonna come out with a lot of fire. Anytime a guy takes the type of bashing that (Pippen) has lately, he's gonna try to prove everybody wrong. That's what he did tonight.''

SERIES REVIEW

First Round: Best-of-5

Gm 1: Lakers 101, Houston 100

Gm 2: Lakers 110, Houston 98

Gm 3: Houston 102, Lakers 88

Gm 4: Sat. at Houston, 2:30 p.m., Ch. 4

Gm 5: Mon. at Lakers x

x if necessary

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Color) Scottie Pippen rose above everybody - including Kobe Bryant - on Thursday, scoring a career playoff-high 37 points.

Tim Johnson/Associated Press

(2) The Lakers' Derek Fisher tries a no-look pass against Hakeem Olajuwon in the first quarter.

Pat Sullivan/Associated Press

Box: SERIES REVIEW (See text)