1-2 PUNCH : CAMPBELL JELLING WITH A HEALTHY O'NEAL IN TIME FOR PLAYOFF RUN.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

On paper, the prospect was tantalizing. The Lakers not only acquired 7-foot-1, 300-pound Shaquille O'Neal for this NBA season, but they also re-signed 6-11, 250-pound Elden Campbell.

A double post of enviable potency, the reasoning went.

The paper, however, was long ago wadded up and tossed off in a corner - bearing a heel print that had an incriminating resemblance to Campbell's right Nike.

Now, with only three games left in the regular season, it has been retrieved, smoothed out. And the Lakers' playoff aspirations could turn on the success of the salvage operation.

``We just have to play together,'' O'Neal said after practice one day this week. ``The year we lost to Houston in the playoffs (while with Orlando in 1995), they just had a 1-2 punch (Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler). Everybody else just did their role.

``We just have to play off each other.''

When the Lakers attempted to play off one another early in the season, all they did was inflict a lot of bruises.

Campbell, accustomed to much more operating room - and many more scoring opportunities - during the era of Vlade Divac, had a devil of a time adjusting to the commanding presence of O'Neal. The cutting lanes were blocked. The lane was oppressively crowded.

Campbell, much more comfortable down low, his back to the basket, was not adapting well to this face-up stuff on the weak side.

He faltered, he pressed, and all aspects of his game - rebounding, defense, shot-blocking . . . uh, hustle - were caught up in the swirl of his slump.

Campbell finally flourished in the season's second half, but primarily because he was able to return to the main-man role in the post in the wake of O'Neal's twin knee injuries, the second of which cost Shaq 28 straight games.

Now O'Neal is back - with an apparent vengeance - and Campbell, who has been recovering from a bruised rump, is expected to rejoin him in the lineup tonight at the Forum against the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers have three regular-season games, plus a desert training camp, to try to get this thing right before they bound into the playoffs.

``I'm still in the learning process,'' Campbell admitted this week - with the season 79 games old. ``I'm looking forward to the team having some fun and playing some good basketball. . . . I'll have to take the back seat, but it's no problem.''

Why was it early?

``I expected that it would be a lot of adjustment,'' he said. ``A lot of learning going on. You can imagine (how it's going to be), but until you actually get in there and try to do it . . .''

His voice trailed off.

The statistics reflect Campbell's difficulties of assimilation. In the 49 games that preceded O'Neal's knee injury, Campbell averaged 12.2 points, 8 rebounds and 1.33 blocked shots.

In 25 games during O'Neal absence, Campbell averaged 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2 blocks. He also led the Lakers in scoring 11 times, including a career high 40 points, 38 and 31.

``It was nice,'' Campbell said, ``but you don't want to do it at the expense of somebody else, especially an injury. That was the situation, and I made the most of it.''

The Lakers would like to see him make more of the other situation. Positive signs were seen after his early-season struggles, but only on an irregular basis. As recently as late January, Campbell was being benched for rookie Travis Knight in the fourth quarter of close games.

Of greatest concern is that Campbell's frustration at the offensive end has sometimes had a ripple effect, resulting in lackluster effort on the boards, on defense and in the transition game.

Coach Del Harris has remarked throughout the year that Campbell, as a ``shotgun rider'' to O'Neal, is key to the Lakers' success. They need him signed on and enthusiastic, and it sounds as if Campbell is prepared to oblige.

``Bill Bertka has talked to me about not always having to do the same things - posting up or taking the short jumpers,'' he said of the longtime Lakers assistant coach. ``(There are a lot of) things to take advantage of.''

According to Lakers reserve forward Jerome Kersey, a veteran of 13 seasons, finding such opportunities is simply a matter of persistence. And will.

``It can be frustrating,'' Kersey said. ``A big guy would like to post up himself, but that's what happens when you've got a dominating center: You've got to be able to sacrifice your game. The opportunities still exist. Not maybe 20 a game, but say you get 10 a game. . . .

``You can't say, `Well, I'm getting mine.' You've got to look at the reality of the team and what's going to give us W's. You just have to say, `I'm going to be opportunistic when I get my chance. I'm going to feed off that weak side.'

``That's not hard. It takes a little hard work, but it's not that hard.''

As well as Campbell played during O'Neal's absence, the stretch also robbed the Lakers of an opportunity to polish the interplay of their two big men.

``There's a definite advantage to playing together,'' said Bertka. ``The team, at that time (O'Neal went down Feb. 12), was in a very formative stage, offensively and defensively. And when Shaq was out, we played one way, and now with him back, we're playing differently; the focus is going to be on him in the post.''

The Lakers' playoff fate could well hinge on whether Campbell offers steady and swift progress in his role. And likes it. Not that there is much of an alternative available.

``I think he was coming along (before Shaq's injury),'' Kersey said of Campbell. ``I think now he has more or less conceded that that's the way it's going to be.

``Shaq's back. You can't fight city hall.''

FEAST OR FAMINE

Particularly on offense, Lakers forward Elden Campbell has been two different players depending on whether center Shaquille O'Neal has shared the court with him.

Before Shaq's knee injury:

G Pts. Rebs Blks

49 12 8 1.3

During Shaq's absence:

G Pts. Rebs Blks

25 19.2 8.2 2

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--color) Elden Campbell has risen to the occasion for the Lakers this season.

(2) ``It was nice, but you don't want to do it at the expense of somebody else, especially an injury,'' says Elden Campbell about his increased scoring and rebounding totals without Shaquille O'Neal in the lineup.

Michael Owen Baker / Daily News

Box: FEAST OR FAMINE (see text)