This Laker Is Missing in Action : NBA playoffs: Eddie Jones, who hasn’t been the same since injuring his shoulder, hasn’t made contribution that team needs against Seattle.

The search party that left the Puget Sound region empty-handed reconvenes in Los Angeles, looking for at least a trace of Eddie Jones, who once played for the Lakers.

That was before this first-round playoff series against the Seattle SuperSonics, tied at 1-1 heading into Game 3 tonight at 7:30 at the Forum. Before he disappeared.

Officially, there have been a couple of sightings, though this couldn’t have been the same player who so impressed during the regular season: Twenty-seven minutes last Thursday, which resulted in six misses in seven shots and two points. Twenty-six minutes Saturday that produced four shots and two points.

By the second half of Game 2, he had become gun-shy, passing up open shots. He has zero steals in 53 playoff minutes after finishing sixth in the NBA in that category while averaging 2.05 in 31 minutes an outing. In short, he has become a wallflower, an uncommon role for someone who can be so spectacular.

“You’re going to go through times like this,” Jones said Sunday after practice at Pauley Pavilion. “It’s just at the wrong time.”

Said Coach Del Harris, searching for anything close to a positive: “I thought he was a big contributor (Saturday). But it wasn’t an Eddie Jones game.”

Few have been since he suffered a sprained right shoulder on a dunk attempt Feb. 19, which put him on the sidelines the next 19 games. The MVP at the rookie all-star game, he returned March 26, played behind Anthony Peeler for six games and then reclaimed his starting job for the final 10, averaging 12.8 points and shooting only 44.3%, but still contributing 2.3 steals a game.

Come the playoff opener, Harris, having watched Peeler go in the tank after putting Jones back in the opening lineup, switched their roles again.

“He’s not playing the same way he played before the injury, although he did have four or five games where he did play with the same aggressiveness and enthusiasm,” Harris said. “But obviously, if he was playing exactly the same as before he got hurt, I’d have him in the starting lineup.”

And obviously, Jones is struggling more than ever.

“When I’m in there, I’m going out there to play extremely hard no matter what,” he said. “It’s like that. I think I’m in a little slump or something. The shot’s not falling. Things I do on the court aren’t going right, like I’m a step too slow. I don’t know what it is.

“When your shot’s not going, you’re going to lose a little something. That’s why you try to do other things to try and get your game back. I try to make a defensive play or pass the ball to somebody else for an easier shot to build confidence in myself.”

Could it be because of the late lineup change?

“Naw, I doubt it,” Jones said. “I wasn’t playing the type of ball I normally play.”

The search continues.

Laker Notes

So what did Cedric Ceballos cost the Lakers in trade? The No. 21 pick, which makes it the steal of the year. The Lakers got an all-star who averaged 21.7 points and eight rebounds and shot 50.9%, and the Phoenix Suns get a late first-round choice in what may be the weakest draft in years. “I don’t think there’s any question it worked out well for us,” Executive Vice President Jerry West said. “But we did give up something valuable. We’ve done well with our draft picks, and we’d like to have another one.” . . . The Lakers had the seventh-best home record in the NBA and at 29-12 recorded the most victories at the Forum since 1990-91. But they closed the regular season by losing three of their last four games there, including a 113-97 defeat by Seattle.

Ceballos would have finished 12th in the NBA in scoring and 24th in rebounding but did not meet the minimum qualifying standards after missing 22 games because of a torn thumb ligament. Still, his 21.7 points a game made him the first Laker to average more than 20 since James Worthy in 1990-91. . . . Other Lakers among the league leaders: Eddie Jones, fifth in steals; Vlade Divac, 11th in rebounding and seventh in blocked shots, and Nick Van Exel, sixth in assists. The team finished third in blocks, sixth in fewest turnovers committed and seventh in scoring, but only 17th in shooting percentage-against and 22nd in rebounding.