A FOX CLASSIC; FORWARD'S FIERCE FOURTH QUAER HELPS LAKERS JETTISON ROCKETS.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

Rick Fox gave up guaranteed millions and guaranteed minutes to return to Los Angeles, and what did he get for his trouble?

Bad shoe insoles. Bone spurs in his foot. A $71 million phenom. A multipierced, multitattooed rebounder. All of them conspiring to make an endangered species out of Fox, or at least his playing time.

So there he was Sunday, healthy but glued to the bench for the entire first half - a dubious first in his year-plus as a Laker - a victim of a sudden oversupply of big men. Buried but not forgotten.

And then, suddenly, unforgettable.

Fox made a late debut midway through the third quarter, then scored 21 points in the final 16 minutes to lead the Lakers to an impressive 106-90 victory over the Houston Rockets.

And in an imperfect season for himself and his team, Fox was perfection embodied: 7 for 7 from the field, 5 for 5 on 3-pointers, and you could ovek the one missed free throw in three tries.

``He did an absolutely fabulous job,'' said Lakers coach Kurt Rambis, whose team won its third straight and second since Rambis took charge.

Fabulous isn't the way Fox would describe the year so far. He opened the season with sore feet caused by new athletic insoles, developed bone spurs in his right foot, then was felled by the flu. In the meantime, $71-million man Kobe Bryant blossomed into a bigger star and Fox lost the position where he started all 82 games last year.

Then Dennis Rodman arrived, and to unclog the power-forward glut, Rambis moved Robert Horry to small forward. Suddenly, Fox was third on the depth chart and a DNP for the first 29 minutes of Sunday's game.

And then he was the best weapon on the floor.

``I just felt at that time, and I don't know if there was any logic to any of it, but it was just a feeling that I needed a punch from Rick scoring,'' Rambis said. ``He had struggled earlier (in the season), but as ote we spent some time working on his shot and he feels very good about himself right now.''

As do the Lakers, who continue to push the three-game losing streak and the tumult of last week's coaching change behind them. After a pair of gimme victories against the Clippers, they needed a win against a legitimate power to legitimize their apparent progress.

And they needed Fox to regain his shooting touch and confidence to get it. The Rockets had a 64-59 edge when he checked in for Bryant, and the Lakers responded with a 10-0 run that included a three-point play from Fox.

Then he nearly beat the Rockets singlehandedly in the final frame, scoring 15 of the Lakers' 29 points and helping hold Scottie Pippen and friends to 18.

``That hurt,'' Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said of Fox's performance. ``With another threat besides Kobe and Shaq (O'Neal), that's what they need, that's what we all need.''

Fox said his foot is a concern and he understands if Rambis uses him judiciously. ``I'm ready to play 48 minutes or five minutes or two minutes or just sit there and cheer for the team, really,'' Fox said. ``I know what I'm capable of doing and whenever he asks me to go out there and perform, I'll be ready. . . . I wasn't sure if I was going to get to play. I was more or less watching the game and being ready, and I kept telling myself to keep mentally in the game because a lot of strange things happen.''

Also encouraging for the Lakers: a rejuvenated fast break that scored 23 points, another double-figure rebound outing from Rodman and a team shooting percentage of 54.8 despite Bryant's 8-for-20 day. And the Lakers won a Sunday NBC game for the first time in four tries.

The bench also had one of its best games, with nine points from Derek Fisher and seven from Sean Rooks.

``Today I felt as confident as I have all season - really more,'' Fisher said. ``Today was a big step.''

Perhaps for the entire team.

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

PHOTO (1--Cover--Color) SLICK RICK

Lakers' Fires in fourth to diffuse Rockets.

(2--Color) Kobe Bryant (8) gets a hand in the face of Houston's Scottie Pippen. Pippen was hounded into 6-of-18 shooting from the floor Sunday and finished with 16 points.

(3--Color) Houston's Charles Barkley (4) came back early from a knee injury so he could face the Lakers and Dennis Rodman, right.

(4--Color) His Airness was a guest of Jack Nicholson on Sunday.

(5--Color) Dennis Rodman pumps his fist after making a play. He finished with a typical Rodman line: 10 rebounds, a block, four fouls and a missed 3-point attempt in 26 minutes off the bench.

Gus Ruelas/Daily News