CEBALLOS REMAINS AWOL\Top scorer suspended, apparently upset over decreased playing\time.

Byline: Marc Stein Daily News Staff Writer

Cedric Ceballos, the Lakers' ever-moody leading scorer, hasn't responded to his decreased playing time with more of last year's hints at retirement.

This year, Ceballos simply bolted the team without a word.

Neither the Lakers nor the player's representative, Fred Slaughter, has heard from Ceballos since Tuesday night, when he logged a season-low 12 minutes in a rout of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Ceballos did not show for Wednesday's noon charter flight to Seattle and still has not contacted anyone in the organization, prompting the Lakers to suspend him indefinitely before Thursday's rematch with the Sonics at KeyArena.

While they are concerned about Ceballos' well-being, since no one can account for his whereabouts, the Lakers felt they had "no choice but to suspend him," according to general manager Mitch Kupchak.

"Our assumption is that he's fine, and we hope that he is," said Kupchak, who accompanied the team here.

Based on that feeling, which is apparently shared by Slaughter -the agent did not return phone messages - Kupchak added that "it's (Ceballos') choice not to be here. . . . It's an unexcused absence."

That decision will cost the sixth-year forward $27,378.05 per game for the duration of the suspension.

Of greater cost, perhaps, is that the Lakers are now faced with a genuine controversy instead of building on their 94-71 dismantling of the Sonics on Tuesday night, arguably their finest performance of the season.

"This is the worst time it could possibly happen," said Magic Johnson, who started in Ceballos' place after appearing as a reserve in the first 18 games of his comeback.

Though they can't be completely sure what is happening until they talk to Ceballos, the Lakers' assumption is that their top offensive threat, at 22.4 points per game, is upset about Harris' recent substitution pattern. Ceballos is averaging just 12.0 points and 29.8 minutes - down from a team-leading 35.2 minutes for the season - in his past four appearances.

Contrary to the original blueprint, Johnson has been playing small forward more often than power forward lately. That means, if Elden Campbell and Vlade Divac aren't in foul trouble at crunch time, it's Ceballos or Eddie Jones who must sacrifice minutes, as seen March 3, when Ceballos sat out the entire fourth quarter of a home loss to Houston.

Tuesday, it was Ceballos' turn again, as Jones scored a team-high 26 points and Johnson recorded a double-double (14 points, 10 assists). Playing poorly when he did get in, missing six of seven shots, Ceballos was limited to just those 12 minutes - the least he has played in any game since coming to the Lakers in a trade with Phoenix before the 1994-'95 season.

"It's nothing really negative about Ceballos," Harris told reporters after Tuesday's game. "That's just the (situation), and everyone has to live with that."

In his pregame meeting with reporters Thursday, Harris declined to dissect the dispute, saying he didn't want to "issue some challenge" or "guilt" Ceballos into returning to the team.

Harris did, however, defend his right to allot minutes as he pleases, saying: "I don't think we have to apologize to anyone. We played our best game of the year. . . . That is my job."

Ceballos, a Western Conference All-Star last season and a double-digit scorer in 67 consecutive games before last Thursday's nine-point struggle at Golden State, has been known to sulk when lifted from games.

Strangely, though, Ceballos gave little indication that anything was troubling him in the hours before the walkout.

Tuesday afternoon, he appeared live on ESPN's "Up Close" and happily recounted his role in convincing Johnson to unretire.

Even during the game, when it became apparent that Jones and Johnson were playing too well to be replaced, Ceballos led the bench in we're-not-worthy bows after one of Magic's no-look assists.

That contrasts with Ceballos' usual behavior when he and Harris are feuding - sitting at the end of the bench, ignoring instructions during timeouts and refusing to make eye contact with the coach.

It is Harris' hope that Ceballos will surface immediately and meet with Lakers' brass to resolve this, as Sedale Threatt ultimately did last fall when he disappeared during training camp. Harris maintains that Lakers vice president Jerry West specializes in defusing firestorms and that "we certainly could have handled this one if we had been given the opportunity."

Until then, the focus falls on the teammates Ceballos left behind. Most of them were unwilling to publicly discuss the controversy, but, clearly, no one in the Lakers locker room was thrilled about the timing.

"I wouldn't do it," muttered Nick Van Exel, who has clashed with Harris in the past.

Said Johnson: "I think you know how I feel. If I have to say it, you don't know Magic Johnson."

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Photo (color) Cedric Ceballos played just 12 minutes and scored only two points Tuesday. Tina Gersen / Daily News