ELDEN'S EFFORT PROVES PIVOTAL; CAMPBELL TAKES GAME OVER AT END : LAKERS 98, ATLANTA 96.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

Hardly a game goes by, particularly a game that ends in a loss, that the Lakers don't mention how much they'd like to have Shaquille O'Neal back on the floor. Friday night was not one of those nights - Elden Campbell made sure of that.

Against the Hawks, sporting the best record in the NBA, Campbell turned in one of his best performances since taking over for O'Neal 15 games ago, and he saved his best play for the all-important closing minutes of the fourth quarter as the Lakers held on for a 98-96 win.

Campbell, matched up against one of the league's top centers in Dikembe Mutombo, played the post battle to a virtual draw - 18 points to Mutombo's 14, seven rebounds to Mutombo's eight and four blocked shots to Mutombo's three.

Twice in the final two minutes, as the Hawks tried to come back, Campbell extended the Lakers' lead to five - with a 9-foot jump shot at 1:50 and two free throws at 1:16. And when the Lakers held a tenuous 98-96 lead, and the Hawks had their chance to erase it, Campbell partially blocked Steve Smith's 3-point attempt.

After that, it was academic. Mutombo grabbed Smith's rebound and was fouled by Robert Horry, sending Mutombo to the foul line, where he was 2 of 6 for the game, with two-tenths of a second left on the clock. He missed both free throws, and the Lakers thus ended the Hawks' four-game winning streak and handed them only their second home loss of the season.

``That,'' said Lakers coach Del Harris, ``is a big-time win.

``People who lost a little bit of hope in the Chicago game (a 104-83 loss) can take heart in this one. That team had the best record in the league, and now they're tied with us (at 19-6).''

Harris took a bit of credit for Campbell's late charge, although Campbell's version of the story differed slightly. With 6:05 to go, the Lakers called timeout, and Harris lit into his center.

``Elden was a monster in the last six minutes,'' Harris said. ``I challenged him, because he wasn't doing the job in the paint that Mutombo was. . . . He used some of that anger that I stirred up in him. That's what I need from him all the time, to take pride in owning that paint.''

So about that pep talk from the coach? Campbell chuckled. ``It was more of an argument,'' he said. ``But I took into consideration what he was saying even though I didn't agree at the time. He told me I needed to block every shot basically. . . . I didn't feel I could get to every block.''

Well, whatever the discussion, the results were exactly what the Lakers needed, especially on the heels of Wednesday's blowout loss to the Bulls, and because the road trip gets no easier with Charlotte tonight and Houston on Monday.

``Going into Chicago and playing the way we did, we stunk it up,'' said Kobe Bryant, who led the Lakers with 19 points. ``We had to bounce back. A loss would have been a big loss.''

Bryant, averaging 14 points in his last four fourth quarters, came up big again, only this time it mattered. The previous four games were all decided by the fourth. But Friday, the Lakers and Hawks exchanged the lead nine times in the last nine minutes, and Bryant's nine fourth-quarter points, while less flashy than his recent late-game antics, could not have been more important.

A Bryant layup tied the game at 79, a Bryant 3-pointer gave the Lakers an 84-81 lead, another layup restored the Lakers lead at 88-87, and Bryant's steal of a Mutombo pass led to a Campbell bucket for a 96-91 lead.

But it was Bryant's last field-goal attempt that he was talking about later. Mookie Blaylock's 3-pointer had cut the lead to 98-96 with 37.6 seconds left. The Lakers called a timeout to set up the next play.

But the Hawks' pressure in the backcourt after the inbounds pass disrupted the Lakers' plan - to get the ball to Campbell inside. Instead, with 13 seconds left on the shot clock, Bryant shot an errant 15-foot jumper, and the Lakers had failed to get the insurance they wanted.

``I rolled the dice,'' Bryant said. ``I was mad. But I have confidence in our defense.''

It was clear from the outset that the Lakers were more on top of their game than on Wednesday. In the first quarter alone, three Lakers - Horry, Rick Fox and Eddie Jones - scored more than they did in all four quarters against the Bulls.

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PHOTO Lakers guard Derek Fisher tries to disrupt a pass by the Hawks' Eldridge Recasner in the first half.

Associated Press