GENERATION NEXT?; YOUTHFUL LAKERS SEND MESSAGE THEY COULD BE HEIRS TO BULLS' THRONE : LAKERS 112, CHICAGO 87.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

The team with a championship ring on four fingers and a thumb arrived Sunday, but the Bulls left only with a ringing in their ears.

The deafening blast heard Sunday at the Forum was the Lakers firing a midseason shot into the heavy armor of the defending NBA champions. And landing a direct hit.

In the end, the Lakers, still trying to prove they belong with the NBA's elite, had taken a long stride in that direction, routing the Bulls 112-87 before a sold-out and star-studded crowd.

It was, in part, payback for the 104-83 thumping the Lakers endured in Chicago in December. But it was also the (dare anyone say it?) statement the youthful team with championship aspirations needed to make.

To the Bulls, to the league, even to the Lakers.

``It was important for ourselves. It's a confidence booster, playing under the circumstances - a pressure game, coming against the world champions and beating them the way we did,'' said Kobe Bryant, one of four Lakers to score at least 20 points. ``It's nice for us.''

How nice? They won without two starters, shot a crisp 52 percent from the field, committed just 11 turnovers and, top to bottom, put together one of their best team performances in recent memory:

Rick Fox, 25 points. Shaquille O'Neal, 24. Eddie Jones and Bryant, 20 apiece. They hardly seemed to miss injured starters Nick Van Exel and Robert Horry, thanks to solid play from subs Derek Fisher and Corie Blount.

Even coach Del Harris, never prone to superlatives, let his pride show a bit.

``We haven't played a better game than that,'' he said. ``To tell you the truth, I don't think we've played a better game in my four years here than that one.''

``I couldn't have asked for more from the team in terms of effort, energy and team play. It's really unusual for a team to go from start to finish against one of the top teams in the league - in this case, probably the top team in the league - and withstand throughout the game,'' Harris said.

Through the brick and mortar, you could hear his players yucking it up in the showers in the next room.

They earned the celebration with an energetic first half, followed by a third-quarter burst that put the game away early.

Holding a 57-53 lead after halftime, the Lakers rattled off 15 straight points, with nary a peep from the Bulls, on a combination of fast breaks and 3-pointers. Suddenly the Lakers were up by 19 points and the Bulls were beginning to look like an old team.

``It was important for us to come out and just slug it out with them,'' Fisher said. ``We weren't going to back down. We knew they weren't going to back down.''

Strange part is, the Bulls did. They managed just 11 points in the quarter - seven from Michael Jordan - and never got closer than 17 the rest of the way.

``We weren't prepared for their push,'' said Jordan. ``We just didn't focus against a team that is looking for an identity, looking for the upper hand.''

Jordan finished with 31 points, but Scottie Pippen managed only 13 - zero in the third quarter. Coach Phil Jackson, disgusted, benched the two Hall of Fame locks for most of the fourth quarter.

``I almost let them sit the whole game,'' Jackson said. ``I was angry at the team. I felt like they let us down in the third quarter.''

So the superstars sat on the bench. And the Lakers' bench players played like stars. Fisher, subbing for Van Exel, had seven rebounds, seven assists and eight points. Blount, in for Horry, had 13 rebounds, seven assists and seven points.

``We were hungry,'' Bryant said. ``We were hungry. You don't want to give a team like Chicago any breathing room. Once their confidence gets going, Mike's hitting his shots, Pippen hitting his shots, then that's when they become the World Champion Chicago Bulls.''

A title they still hold. A title the Lakers still pursue.

SPURT THAT HURT

With a narrow 57-53 lead heading into the third quarter, the Lakers scored 15 consecutive points and effectively put the game away. Here is a look at the run:

Time Poss. Score

11:47 Shaquille O'Neal layup 59-53

11:19 Eddie Jones layup 61-53

10:50 Derek Fisher layup 63-53

10:22 Rick Fox 3-point basket 66-53

10:05 Fox layup, free throw 69-53

9:39 Jones 3-point basket 72-53

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1--Cover--Color) FLOORED

Lakers us a near perfect third quarter to upend the Bulls and serve notice to the defending NBA champions

(2--Color) Lakers forward Rick Fox scores two of his team-high 25 points on a reverse layup Sunday against the Chicago Bulls. Fox was one of four Lakers who scored 20 points or more in the Lakers' surprisingly easy victory.

(3--Color) The defense of Bulls center Luc Longley did little to slow Shaquille O'Neal, who finished with 24 points.

Evan Yee / Daily News

BOX: SPURT THAT HURT (see text)