Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Choke Off The Old Block Sonics Can See Denver From L.A.

Associated Press

The Seattle SuperSonics are just one loss away from another first-round NBA playoff disaster.

Cedric Ceballos scored 24 points and Nick Van Exel had 23 Monday night, leading the Los Angeles Lakers past the Sonics 105-101 for a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

By winning Game 4 at the Forum on Thursday night, the Lakers will advance to the second round and send Seattle home until next season. If the Sonics win, Game 5 will be in Tacoma on Saturday.

“We got shocked early,” Sonics coach George Karl said. “Our fight didn’t start until we got 15-18 points down. But it’s not over. We’ve been here before.

“We haven’t won two in a row this year? We’ve won two in a row quite a few times. Right now, we’re only worried about Thursday’s game. This team will come to play.”

The Lakers, who never trailed, got 20 points and nine rebounds from Vlade Divac and a strong all-around game from Van Exel, who played the entire way and hit 4 of 7 3-point shots.

“We’ve got to stay on top of our game,” Van Exel said. “If we slip at any moment, they’re going to capitalize on it.”

Shawn Kemp led the Sonics with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Gary Payton added 20 points. Detlef Schrempf had 19 and Sam Perkins 18.

“Oh, it’s not over,” Kemp said. “If’s definitely not over. Everything’s not working right for us right now. There could be a million reasons. I don’t have an idea right now.”

The Sonics won an NBA-high 63 games last season and were seeded first in the Western Conference before being upset by eighthseeded Denver in the first round.

“No comment about that,” Schrempf said when asked about last year’s loss to Denver.

This year, Seattle had a 57-25 record and was seeded fourth in the West. The Lakers, 48-34 and seeded fifth, have won two straight after being blown out by the Sonics 96-71 in the series opener in Tacoma.

“They shot the ball well and we dug ourselves a hole again,” Schrempf said. “We’ve got to make better decisions when it counts. We have to execute a little better, make smarter decisions offensively, take better care of the ball.”

The Lakers, who took the lead for good in the game’s first two minutes, led 89-81 after Van Exel’s 3-point shot with 7 minutes left.

Ceballos made another 3-pointer with 5:49 to go, extending the Lakers’ lead to 11 points, but the Sonics battled back, and a 3-pointer by Perkins with 2:42 remaining cut the Lakers’ lead to 96-93.

However, that was as close as the Sonics would get. Divac made three free throws and Van Exel two in the final 48 seconds.

Lakers 105, SuperSonics 101

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 42 10-14 9-12 4-11 4 4 30 Schrempf 42 7-14 4-5 2-8 4 2 19 Perkins 37 8-14 0-0 3-9 3 4 18 McMillan 27 1-4 0-0 1-3 10 4 2 Payton 45 10-21 0-2 0-0 3 4 20 Gill 10 0-2 0-2 0-0 1 0 0 Askew 26 4-8 0-1 3-5 2 6 10 Johnson 11 0-3 2-2 0-4 0 5 2 Totals 240 40-80 15-24 13-40 27 29 101

Percentages: FG .500, FT .625.

3-Point Goals: 6-15, .400 (Askew 2-2, Perkins 2-4, Kemp 1-1, Schrempf 1-4, McMillan 0-1, Gill 0-1, Payton 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 9.

Blocked shots: 3 (McMillan, Gill, Johnson).

Turnovers: 14 (Kemp 4, Schrempf 3, Perkins 3, McMillan 2, Payton 2).

Steals: 4 (Perkins 2, Payton, Gill).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 9:51 first; illegal defense, 8:37 third; Coach Karl, 3:14 third.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb L.A. LAKERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Campbell 34 5-9 0-0 1-6 2 5 10 Ceballos 43 8-19 6-7 1-8 6 2 24 Divac 43 7-12 6-8 4-9 4 5 20 Peeler 27 4-10 2-2 3-5 1 1 11 Van Exel 48 5-14 9-10 1-4 6 3 23 Bowie 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 5 0 Lynch 12 1-2 3-4 1-1 0 4 5 Jones 23 3-4 5-6 1-2 2 2 12 Miller 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Totals 240 33-71 31-37 12-36 21 27 105

Percentages: FG .465, FT .838.

3-Point Goals: 8-19, .421 (Van Exel 4-7, Ceballos 2-6, Jones 1-1, Peeler 1-5).

Team Rebounds: 8.

Blocked shots: 8 (Campbell 3, Divac 3, Van Exel, Bowie).

Turnovers: 13 (Jones 4, Ceballos 3, Divac 3, Campbell 2, Bowie).

Steals: 6 (Ceballos 2, Lynch 2, Peeler, Van Exel).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 4:25 second.

Illegal defense: 1. Seattle 22 25 25 29 - 101 L.A. Lakers 34 22 25 24 - 105

A-17,505 (17,505). T-2:34.

Officials-Hue Hollins, Bernie Fryer, Ronnie Nunn.