Sonic Doom: Seattle Bows Out Lakers Move On To Face Spurs After 3-1 Series Win

The Seattle SuperSonics rest, but not in peace. Their coach seems on borrowed time and vacation is once again here too soon.

The SuperSonics spent a season vowing to avenge last year’s playoff bomb against No. 8-seeded Denver, but instead they could not even force a fifth and final first-round playoff game. Their shot selection was horrifying at game’s conclusion on Thursday night, and the Los Angeles Lakers had no choice but to eliminate them at the Forum 114-110.

The Lakers took the best-of-five series, 3-1, and will meet the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday at the Alamo Dome in the opener of a best-of-seven series.

The Sonics were steaming afterward.

“I ain’t got nothing to say,” point guard Gary Payton said.

“There’s nothing to say, period,” forward Shawn Kemp added.

Then Kendall Gill, who has been overwhelmed by his erratic handling all season by coach George Karl, laid it all on the line, saying he’d love to stay with the Sonics, but only if Karl is gone.

“I love Seattle, the fans, the organization and my teammates are great,” Gill said. “If things stay the same, I don’t want to stay. It’s a shame. All year long these guys worked their butts off … and put up with all kinds of stuff. We (the players) have to take responsibility. We’re the ones on the court, and have to take responsibility. We didn’t win.

“I didn’t come here (from Charlotte) to lose in the first round two years in a row. I came here to win a championship. It’s a lot of things. When you get players, you let them play. You don’t play games with them, yanking them in and out of games.”

The Sonics led 108-107 with 2:11 left and did not score again, a testimony to why they were 12-15 in games decided by six points or less. They could not score again until Vincent Askew was given a layup with 7 seconds left, while the Lakers converted 7 of 9 free throws.

The Lakers’ Nick Van Exel was spectacular with 34 points, nine assists and six rebounds to lead the Lakers, followed by Vlade Divac’s 23 points and 11 rebounds. Payton paced the Sonics with 27 points, and Kemp had 26 points, 18 rebounds, four steals and four blocks.

The Lakers didn’t catch the Sonics, who led from midway through the first quarter until a 3-pointer by Eddie Jones with 7:48 left in the game. And from that point on, the lead changed hands seven times, along with five ties.

With the Lakers trailing 38-26 less than a minute into the second quarter, on came Van Exel, with a stunning passion. After just four points in the first quarter, he brought the Lakers back with four 3-pointers to pull them within 53-51 with 2:58 left in the half. He had 16 of his 20 first-half points in the second period. What could have been a blow-out in the first half, was now up for grabs.

“Nick was spectacular,” Divac said. “We didn’t play well in the first half and he kept us alive.”

Lakers 114, SuperSonics 110

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 46 7-16 12-13 5-18 2 5 26 Schrempf 38 6-16 2-3 0-4 6 5 17 Perkins 36 6-12 0-0 1-7 4 4 15 McMillan 24 2-7 0-0 1-1 6 4 5 Payton 45 12-16 3-7 3-5 6 5 27 Askew 26 5-7 0-0 2-2 3 4 12 Johnson 7 1-3 0-0 3-5 0 4 2 Gill 18 2-6 1-2 0-0 2 2 6 Totals 240 41-83 18-25 15-42 29 33 110

Percentages: FG .494, FT .720.

3-Point Goals: 10-16, .625 (Schrempf 3-4, Perkins 3-4, Askew 2-2, Gill 1-2, McMillan 1-3, Payton 0-1)

Team Rebounds: 9.

Blocked shots: 5 (Kemp 4, Perkins).

Turnovers: 13 (Kemp 3, Payton 3, Perkins 2, Askew 2, Schrempf, McMillan, Gill).

Steals: 11 (Kemp 4, McMillan 3, Payton 2, Schrempf, Gill).

Technical foul: McMillan, 3:38 second.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb L.A. LAKERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Campbell 41 3-6 7-11 3-6 2 5 13 Ceballos 32 5-14 6-8 0-5 2 1 17 Divac 39 7-10 9-15 5-11 4 4 23 Peeler 39 4-8 6-6 2-2 3 2 16 Van Exel 48 13-23 1-4 0-6 9 4 34 Jones 26 3-8 2-4 1-5 1 3 10 Bowie 10 0-2 0-0 4-5 0 4 0 Lynch 5 0-0 1-2 0-1 1 0 1 Totals 240 35-71 32-50 15-41 22 23 114

Percentages: FG .493, FT .640.

3-Point Goals: 12-27, .444 (Van Exel 7-13, Jones 2-3, Peeler 2-5, Ceballos 1-6).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 7 (Campbell 3, Jones 2, Peeler, Bowie).

Turnovers: 13 (Campbell 2, Ceballos 2, Divac 2, Peeler 2, Van Exel 2, Jones 2, Lynch).

Steals: 5 (Peeler 2, Campbell, Divac, Jones).

Technical foul: illegal defense, 10:45 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1. Seattle 35 24 31 20 - 110 L.A. Lakers 26 29 27 32 - 114

A-17,505 (17,505). T-2:26.

Officials-Hugh Evans, Paul Mihalak, Bill Oakes.