LAKERS STOP SPURS; TEXAS TOWERS HELD IN CHECK : LAKERS 98 SAN ANTONIO 88.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

The San Antonio Spurs came to the Forum on Friday to take on the Lakers, and the biggest loser of the evening was conventional wisdom.

Conventional wisdom, as in: Without Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers will surely be overmatched by the Texas Towers, David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

Well, even conventional wisdom has its off nights, even if the Lakers don't seem to.

The Shaq-less Lakers snatched their second victory in as many tries against Robinson, Duncan and Co., and stayed undefeated at home, taking a 98-88 victory before 17,505 at the Forum.

No Shaq proved to be no problem, as the Lakers, who have struggled on the boards, outrebounded the Spurs 40-36. And they held the imposing Robinson-Duncan duo to 19 and 18 points, respectively - nine points fewer than the two combined for the last time the teams met, in San Antonio last month.

A patchwork of Elden Campbell, Robert Horry and Corie Blount combined to control the game in the paint - Campbell scoring 21 in Shaq's place, Blount grabbing 10 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench and Horry pitching in 11 points and nine rebounds.

Coach Del Harris had big praise for his big men.

``They did an outstanding job against Duncan and Robinson, and that's not an easy thing to do,'' he said. ``I felt very good about our big people, going against two of the best in the league.''

``The rebounding tonight was important. They're one of the top rebounding teams in the league, and we're near the bottom and without our horse.''

Nights like this make O'Neal look almost obsolete. The Lakers are now 15-2, including a 7-2 mark without their marquee man, and are 8-0 at home.

When all else failed Friday, Spur-slaying Nick Van Exel took over with his perimeter shooting. Last time out against San Antonio, Nov. 13, it was Van Exel's late heroics that forced overtime in an eventual 109-100 win. This time, it was his game-high 25 points, including four 3-pointers and a 7-for-7 night at the foul line.

``Nick stepped up and made some incredible shots, and we just didn't have answer for it,'' Duncan said.

All of which added up to a less-than-enjoyable stay in Los Angeles for the slumping Spurs, who went 0-2, including Thursday's embarrassing overtime loss to the Clippers. San Antonio's woes began with the Lakers last month. The Spurs were 6-1 before the Lakers came to town but have gone 4-8 since then.

Horry said the difference was noticeable.

``They were a different team. They looked tired, they didn't look like they had their energy,'' he said. ``This was their sixth game in eight nights. . . . We caught them at the right moment.''

The Lakers held a slight lead, 45-43 at halftime, on the strength of Van Exel's 13 points and Campbell's 11, aided by Kobe Bryant's five assists and Horry's five rebounds in the opening 24 minutes.

While the Spurs won the second quarter 26-21 to make it a two-point game at halftime, they never made a run in the final two quarters, as the Lakers' defense beared down and Van Exel's 3-pointers poured down.

Mark down Friday night as a milestone victory for the Lakers. After their 1-2 road trip last week, and after numerous struggles in the eight games since O'Neal reinjured himself, they soundly beat a talented team with one of the best frontcourts in the league.

O'Neal could return within a couple weeks. In the meantime, the Lakers are feeling better and better about their ability to win without him.

``If we're going to be a championship team, we have to go out and beat teams like that handily to build our confidence,'' said Eddie Jones. ``Beating them the way we beat them, we definitely took a step to get back where we were (earlier in the season).''