Sonics’ Playoff Tuneup Looks Like Another Tune Out

Only one conclusion can arise from the SuperSonics’ lackluster performance Friday night.

They’re in playoff form already.

Certainly, struggling past the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves in Friday’s regular-season home finale stands as a good tuneup for the kind of postseason performances the Sonics have registered the past two seasons.

But let’s not discount the Timberwolves arbitrarily.

Minnesota came into KeyArena a scant 32-1/2 games back in its division.

Sure, the Wolves had hit a little bit of a cold streak against the Sonics - dropping 20 in a row since their last win (March 1991).

At the time of that last win, one of the Wolves’ better players - Kevin Garnett - was in eighth grade.

A glance at the 94-86 final tally would suggest that the Sonics, with a Western Division title in hand, had left the studs in the barn to rest for next week’s first-round playoff series with Sacramento.

Au contraire., Shawn Kemp played 39 minutes and barely outplayed Minnesota’s Teen Wolf - Garnett - with just 13 points and seven turnovers.

“You get to the point where you’re kind of anxious about the playoffs and you find yourself looking ahead,” Kemp admitted afterward. “I’m happy this game is over; I was trying to speed the clock up out there but I couldn’t.”

Perhaps it’s curious that Kemp would be so eager to get back into the postseason, considering it’s the site of such embarrassing public pratfalls.

The Sonics have been to the playoffs what Greg Norman was to the Masters - only they haven’t shot the ball into any water.

Two years ago against Denver, the Sonics looked like that guy in the commercial who ate the entire pizza that comes with the ball.

Against the Lakers last year, the term supersonic was relevant only in its description of the speed with which the team was ousted from the playoffs.

From inside the locker room, though, the Sonics are trying to convince everyone - and perhaps themselves, as well - that this year will be different.

For one thing, in the shadow of the Bulls’ 70 wins and all the publicity over various players’ unscheduled sabbaticals and occasional assaults on officials, has been a remarkable Sonics’ regular season.

Their 64 wins stands as a team record and is the ninth-best win total in NBA history. Seven of the teams to compile better records went on to win the NBA title.

“(The 64 wins) feels good,” Sonics coach George Karl said, although seven packets of aspirin on the table in front of him might suggest that it doesn’t feel THAT good. “I think we’ve done it the right way - with an NBA professionalism that has been lacking here in Seattle.”

Consider that a reference to the improved deportment of his stars, Kemp and Gary Payton. Aside from the occasional missed plane and a head-butt here and there, the two have maintained an admirable focus on the task at hand.

Until Friday, that is, when Kemp slumbered and the vastly undermanned Timberwolves challenged until the game’s final minute.

“Sixty-four wins is nice, but it’s meaningless unless we do something next week,” Kemp said. “It feels good, but the real thing starts next week.”

Karl said he hasn’t really taken time to think back to the previous playoffs.

Sure. And Ahab didn’t hold a grudge against that whale.

“I think everybody wants to get on with it,” Karl said. “The exciting thing is that I think we’re confident. I know I have never been this confident with a team since I’ve been in Seattle.”

But even Karl hinted at some concerns.

“We talked about not wanting to lose our edge,” he said. “And we might not have had the crispness in the games as of late, but we’re still winning. And winning ugly in this league is as valuable as winning pretty.”

What is needed now, he said, is for the Sonics to develop a “cocoon mentality” and not be distracted by the ghosts of playoffs past.

For the Sonics to emerge from that chrysalis and flutter out of the first round, they must play the solid defense that has taken them to 64 wins and make certain that Kemp’s pilot light stays lit.

A crowd of 17,072 was inside KeyArena for the last regular-season look at the Sonics in a game that was - considering the weakness of the opponent - inappropriately labeled “Fan Appreciation Night.”

One by one, on the scoreboard’s big screen, videos of players appeared. And humbly as young multi-millionaires can, they each thanked the fans for their support.

Sam Perkins even looked as if his eyes were open. Briefly, at least.

It was staged gratitude, sure, but was a nice gesture.

Really, they all knew that Friday was not Fan Appreciation Night. That, realistically, would come later, when they finally fulfilled expectations and won a playoff series.

“In the back of your mind you’re telling yourself to take it one game at a time,” Karl said. “(But) you get anxious to redeem yourself for the last couple of years.”

, DataTimes