Sonics Pushed To Brink Bulls Net Easy Win, Go To 3-0

Everything was set for the Seattle SuperSonics’ party at KeyArena Sunday evening. Cindy Crawford and Spike Lee provided a Hollywood flair, six members of the Sonics’ 1979 NBA championship team presented the game ball, Kenny G played the national anthem, boxing announcer Michael Buffer gave the “Let’s get ready to ruuummmble” call and the KeyArena crowd of 17,072 reached deafening decibel levels early and often.

But all the sound signified nothing, without the fury.

The Sonics didn’t have it.

The Chicago Bulls did.

The Bulls jumped on the Sonics from tipoff and eased their choke hold only for a brief, third-quarter stretch en route to saddling Seattle with a 108-86 loss.

“We sensed the opportunity to grab this series in Game 3,” said Bulls’ star Michael Jordan, who squeezed the Sonics for 36 points.

With their ninth consecutive playoff victory and fifth straight road Finals triumph, the Bulls gained a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals best-of-seven series.

What mercurial forward Dennis Rodman calls “their destiny” appears to be at hand - a fourth NBA title in the past six years and Jordan’s first championship since he returned 14 months ago from a 1-1/2-year retirement.

“I would say it’s effectively over,” proclaimed Rodman.

No team has ever recovered from a 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series and Sonics shooting guard Hersey Hawkins admitted on the eve of the game: “We lose and it’s probably over.”

In the comfort of their home court, where they’ve lost only five games, Hawkins was certain the Sonics would be ready for what he and his teammates termed a “must-win.”

But the Sonics were woefully unprepared for a Bulls’ buzz saw that produced leads of 11-2, 19-4, 34-12 and a 62-38 halftime advantage.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Chicago with killer eyes in this series,” Sonics coach George Karl said.

After missing a jumper and three tip-ins on their opening possession, the killer-eyed Bulls hit their next four shots, missed a pair, then hit the next five of six for a 19-4 lead.

Meanwhile, the Sonics missed six of eight field-goal attempts and turned the ball over four times. Shawn Kemp, who was double-teamed by the Bulls in the wake of his 30.5 scoring average in the first two games of the series, traveled and threw the ball into a thicket of Bulls’ defenders.

Fellow All-Star Gary Payton tossed up an air ball, Hawkins forced a wayward pass and Detlef Schrempf bricked a jumper.

The Sonics were awful and awfully impatient, often taking low-percentage shots early in the offense, instead of whipping the ball around the perimeter or working it inside, then outside.

“I don’t know what team was out there in the first quarter,” Payton said. “We didn’t come to play in the first quarter.”

Payton also didn’t come to play for early warm-ups. While winning a club-record 64 games “The Glove” often didn’t warm up early, but for most of the playoffs it has been his habit, and a seemingly effective one.

But perhaps it didn’t matter.

After all, Payton played his best game of the series - 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds - and the veteran champion Bulls were unfazed by the roaring first-quarter noise level at KeyArena.

“I know this is the Glove’s home and I wasn’t going to verbalize any complications with them,” Jordan said. “I was just going to come out and play and let my basketball do all the talking. I know the crowd can get very hostile, but for me, personally, this is the atmosphere that I like to play in.”

It was so agreeable to “His Airness” that he scorched the Sonics for 27 of his game-high 36 points in the first half. He was particularly masterful late in the second quarter with nine consecutive points on an array of jumpers, including a 3-pointer.

“I felt like things were coming through me,” Jordan said.

At the opposite end, things weren’t going through Kemp, the Sonics’ series star.

“We wanted to see if Kemp could throw the ball out of the double-team and he really didn’t do that,” Jordan said. “They never adjusted to that. That was one reason for the fast start.”

It was frustrating for Karl because the Sonics have flourished in the past when Kemp sees the double-team quick enough to get a pass out to a teammate spotted up for a jumper. But in a series-long trend, the Sonics didn’t score from the 3-point line.

They were 4 for 16 from behind the 3-point arc, dropping their series mark to 26 percent (12 for 47).

Moreover, Sam Perkins, their most accurate 3-point shooter, was limited to one attempt Sunday and just seven in the series.

The Sonics’ inside game was also fraught with problems because of the team’s lack of patience and passing.

All told, the Bulls held the Sonics to 60 field-goal attempts, an NBA Finals low, and forced 20 turnovers.

Bulls 108, SuperSonics 86

FG FT Reb CHICAGO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Pippen 40 5-14 1-3 2-8 9 3 12 Rodman 31 1-3 3-6 3-10 2 4 5 Longley 28 8-13 3-4 2-3 2 5 19 Kukoc 36 4-11 5-5 1-7 7 3 14 Jordan 41 11-23 11-11 2-3 5 1 36 Kerr 25 3-4 1-1 0-2 2 2 8 Harper 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Wennington 15 3-4 0-0 0-0 1 4 6 Brown 10 2-2 1-2 0-0 0 3 6 Buechler 8 1-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 2 Salley 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Totals 240 38-76 25-34 10-33 28 28 108 Percentages: FG .500, FT .735.

3-Point Goals: 7-15, .467 (Jordan 3-4, Brown 1-1, Kerr 1-2, Kukoc 1-3, Pippen 1-4, Buechler 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 2 (Longley 2).

Turnovers: 11 (Jordan 3, Rodman 2, Longley 2, Kerr, Wennington, team 2).

Steals: 9 (Pippen 3, Jordan 2, Rodman, Kukoc, Kerr, Buechler).

Technical fouls: Rodman, 9:56 second.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 42 4-7 6-6 1-4 0 5 14 Schrempf 41 7-15 5-6 1-5 3 3 20 Johnson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hawkins 40 2-6 7-7 0-1 2 4 12 Payton 45 7-15 5-6 2-7 9 2 19 Perkins 27 2-4 5-6 1-6 0 2 9 Askew 10 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 3 2 Brickowski 14 2-4 0-0 2-7 0 5 5 Wingate 12 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 3 5 Scheffler 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Snow 3 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 0 Totals 240 27-60 28-31 7-32 14 29 86 Percentages: FG .450, FT .903.

3-Point Goals: 4-16, .250 (Wingate 1-1, Brickowski 1-2, Hawkins 1-3, Schrempf 1-5, Perkins 0-1, Askew 0-1, Payton 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 4 (Kemp 4).

Turnovers: 21 (Kemp 5, Schrempf 3, Payton 3, Askew 3, Hawkins 2, Brickowski 2, Wingate, Perkins, team).

Steals: 3 (Payton 2, Hawkins).

Technical fouls: Payton, 11:22 fourth; Schrempf, 2:43 fourth.

Flagrant fouls: Brickowski, 5:46 fourth.

Ejections: Brickowski, 5:46 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

Chicago 34 28 13 33 - 108

Seattle 16 22 23 25 - 86

A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:31.