Lakers Sow Seeds of a Big Upset : NBA playoffs: Divac and Scott spark late run to give them 86-81 victory over Suns and a 2-0 lead in best-of-five series.

They held each other and thrust their fists into the air, two specks of purple and gold bobbing in a sea of outraged orange. And at the same time he hugged Vlade Divac, Byron Scott also embraced the Lakers’ storied past and their improbably happy present.

“It felt like old times,” Scott said Sunday after the Lakers upended the Phoenix Suns, 86-81, pushing the NBA Western Division’s top team to the brink of playoff elimination in front of 19,023 fans at the America West Arena.

“I told A.C. (Green) at the beginning of the game that with all the orange signs and the fans going crazy, it almost made me feel like we were number one (in the conference) and they were number eight. I told A.C. you’ve got to love this type of situation, coming into hostile territory after we’d won one game. I can’t tell you how much fun it was.”

They had so much fun playing poised and intelligently down the stretch in Friday’s opener, they did it again Sunday to shock the Suns and take a 2-0 lead back to the Forum for Game 3 Tuesday.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Divac, who had 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. “Before this series, if somebody asked me if we were going to beat Phoenix twice, I would have said, ‘No way.’ I expected we would win once, but I didn’t think we would win twice.

“But in the NBA playoffs, everything is different from the season.”

After Tom Chambers’ free throws put the Suns ahead, 80-77, with 2:57 to play, the Lakers outscored Phoenix, 9-1, much like their 9-0 run at the end of Friday’s game. They held the Suns to 11 points in the fourth quarter, the fewest points by a Laker opponent in a quarter this season and a playoff low for Phoenix.

“I think it was a very bad time for me to have my worst game of the year,” said Charles Barkley, who scored one point in the last quarter and 18 overall on eight-for-24 shooting. “I’m disappointed I played so badly. I think that was the difference in the game.”

A three-pointer by James Worthy a split second before the 24-second clock expired tied the score, 80-80, with 2:29 to play. After rebounding a miss by Kevin Johnson, Divac made a hook shot before the buzzer to give the Lakers a lead they refused to relinquish.

A dunk by Divac made it 84-80, and Scott applied the final flourish with a jump shot from the right side with 16.1 seconds to play for the last of his 17 points.

Only three teams have won a best-of-five series after losing the first two games, but none did it after losing twice on their home floor: the New York Knicks rallied past the Boston Celtics in 1990; the Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz in 1987, and the 1956 Ft. Wayne Pistons defeated the St. Louis Hawks in the Western Division finals.

The Suns have never won a playoff series on the 10 occasions they trailed, 2-0. And no top-seeded team has lost a series to an eighth-seeded team.

“I still think we’re going to win the series,” said Phoenix Coach Paul Westphal, who made the playoffs in nine of 12 seasons as a player but is making his playoff coaching debut. “We have to go to L.A. and win the next game, and the next game and then come back here and win the series and everybody will say what a great series it was.

“The Lakers played great, probably as good as they can play. We feel we can play better, and we have a lot of confidence.”

His players, however, lacked that confidence Sunday.

“I don’t feel we went out there expecting to win the game, like we should have,” said Johnson, who scored 14 points and had 16 assists in his return from a sprained knee. “We dug ourselves this hole. We have nobody to blame but ourselves, and nobody’s going to get us out but ourselves.”

The Lakers put them there with a strong defensive effort. Outrebounded in 48 of 82 games this season--and in four of their five regular-season games against the Suns--they had a 46-42 edge Sunday.

“It was nothing out of the ordinary, just good effort,” said Coach Randy Pfund, who brushed off questions about the sudden improvement in his prospects of keeping his job. “We had guys making second and third efforts. I’ll make a non-issue out of the strategy side of it. It’s effort. You have to ask the guys, but they seem extremely motivated and are playing well together.

“It’s two games. We haven’t accomplished anything yet. We’ll try not to lose our quote, unquote focus , which is the word now. They’ve got a sense they can do something very special, and the underdog role is one they can embrace. It’s great. I wish it had been like this all year.”

There were few clues during their 39-43 season that they could play as well as they did Sunday. Their resilience was remarkable. After Phoenix made an 18-6 run to erase the Lakers’ 45-43 halftime edge and go ahead, 61-51, the Lakers came back with a 10-3 push in 2:44. They trailed, 78-72, with 5:55 to play when Scott hit a three-pointer to give them new life.

“Randy is the guy who has gotten us through this. He’s been taking the heat all year, but he did a great job keeping us focused, no matter what happened,” said Sedale Threatt, who followed Friday’s 35-point gem with nine points and eight assists on Sunday. “He kept me focused. The only thing he said to me was, ‘Visualize winning,’ and that helped.”

It worked for the whole team. “We have to take the approach that nobody’s in a good position until it’s over,” Worthy said. “We can’t dwell on this game or this lead. We know we haven’t won anything yet. We’re going to stay focused, calm and poised.”

Laker Notes

Assistant coach Chet Kammerer was taken to a local hospital before the game after feeling dizzy. Kammerer returned late in the game but remained in the locker room. . . . Guard Tony Smith, who made two key jump shots in the third quarter, strained his left groin muscle early in the fourth quarter and didn’t return. He will be re-evaluated today. . . . Charles Barkley was charged with flagrant foul for kicking Vlade Divac with 5:57 left in first quarter. Said Divac: “He paid the price with two free throws and possession of the ball.” . . . The Suns started Richard Dumas in place of Cedric Ceballos. . . . The Lakers’ glaring weakness was at the free throw line, where they were 10 for 23.

* CLIPPERS: Fired up after tying series with Houston at 1-1, team surrenders day off to prepare for Game 3. C2

* DON CHANEY: Former coach of Clippers and Rockets reportedly will get head job with Pistons today. C3