Lakers Grow Up on Road : Pro basketball: They keep coming back, in regulation and beyond, to defeat Nets in second overtime, 129-120.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. â€”  The chest puffs a little bit more with every victory, that swagger and confidence that comes with such an impressive run, especially the way the victories have been coming. Much more of this and the Lakers will be Arnold Schwarzenegger.

For now, they are winners of five in a row for the first time in almost two years and they head to Cleveland with the chance to sweep a trip of at least four games in length for the first time since Dec. 21-27, 1990. For now, they are surviving and prospering.

Tuesday night at Meadowlands Arena, the Lakers trailed New Jersey by 16 points with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter before they snapped to attention and won, 129-120. They earned overtime on Elden Campbell’s dunk with 7.4 seconds left in regulation, earned a second overtime on Sam Bowie’s tip-in with 8.8 seconds to play, and, finally, earned an 8-5 record by outscoring the Nets, 13-4, in the second overtime.

The crowd of 12,211 was shocked. It obviously hadn’t seen the Lakers play before.

“A tremendous win,� Coach Del Harris said. “For a young team to come back like that, we’ve done it a couple of times, and each time it adds maturity, particularly when the last rites have been administered.

“You can tell it. Not just in their eyes, but in their conversation. They’re developing a toughness and a confidence. They think and believe they are going to do it. We never felt like we were out of it. The conversations were, ‘Let’s get a stop on defense,’ and ‘Let’s move the ball.’ It was all very positive.�

Said Bowie, who had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench and played almost all of both five-minute overtime periods after Vlade Divac fouled out: “It’s unusual, because when you look at it, this is a young ballclub. For them to have that kind of poise and believability, it’s amazing.

“In the past, when we’ve been down 16 with eight minutes left, it’s fold the tent and head to the next camp site. This team, you’ve got to put them to sleep.�

It looked like lights out in the fourth quarter--the Nets had a 100-84 lead and had scored on seven of their first nine possessions of the period. The Lakers already had 18 turnovers, about four more than their league-best average.

And then?

And then they committed one turnover the final 18:13.

Success in the fourth quarter had already become a Laker trademark this season, but even this was something for them. The comeback started with an 18-4 charge--helped by four New Jersey turnovers in five trips--that cut the deficit to two. When Nick Van Exel, who had 18 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and four steals, made a three-pointer with 2:15 left, the Lakers had a 105-104 lead. Down by two in the closing seconds, Van Exel drove the lane and, when Derrick Coleman left his man to help on defense, dropped the ball off to an open Campbell for the two-hand slam that made it 109-109 and sent the game into overtime.

Once there, the Lakers barely hit the rim on their first three shots. But when Campbell’s jumper rimmed off and Bowie tipped the ball high off the glass and through the net, it was 116-116.

“I tried to put myself in position to get a hand on it,� Bowie said. “And that’s what I did. I got a hand on it.�

The Lakers took control of the second overtime from the start, Sedale Threatt making a three-pointer after only five seconds. After Coleman went one for two from the line on the ensuing possession, Threatt converted another jumper, pushing the lead to 121-117 with 4:05 remaining.

“I like Sedale Threatt in there to nail down the coffin,� Harris said. “The guy’s just cold-blooded.�

Or maybe it’s the locale. Last season here, he made a club-record nine shots in a quarter, a mark Cedric Ceballos tied Tuesday by making nine of 10 shots in the first period, when he scored 18 of his game-high 34 points.