Perkins Does Much More Than Show Up

Maybe it’s Shawn Kemp who gets it and the rest of us who don’t.

His propensity for the personal foul is variously regarded as unlucky, stubbornly overaggressive and - finally - stupid, but there seems to be a method to it that almost makes him something of a coach on the floor.

The more he fouls, after all, the more Sam Perkins plays.

And it is Perkins the Seattle SuperSonics will ride into the NBA Finals sometime this week - Perkins and Gary Payton and a growing poise that still springs the occasional leak but holds up nonetheless, as it did Sunday in an 88-86 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Now the Sonics return home ahead 3-1 in the best-of-seven conference finals because they weathered the Jazz’ best combination and then ducked the haymaker - John Stockton’s 24-foot jumper at the buzzer that clanked off the iron. All we’re waiting for now is a time of death, for the Jazz won’t be winning three straight.

“I don’t see why not,” sniffed Antoine Carr.

Taking off the shades may give you a better look, Big Dog.

Actually, it may not be so much that the Jazz can’t win but that Perkins and Payton will not let the Sonics lose.

As Utah mounted the potentially fatal fourth-quarter rally on Sunday, most of the Sonics seemed more inclined to cuddle up with that monkey from “Outbreak” than call for the ball. That left it to Perkins, who launched in a 3-pointer to stem the home team’s momentum, and Payton, whose two clutch baskets 29 seconds apart proved to be decisive.

It’s a guess to suggest this duo is simply more motivated than their teammates, though Payton is on a salary drive and Perkins - as the only Sonic who’s ever made it to the Finals - has a growl in his belly to get back. The odd thing is, Payton has been so spectacular in the playoffs that he’s starting to be taken for granted; Perkins, two weeks from his 35th birthday, is a revelation each night out.

Sunday’s revelation: 20 points, six rebounds and some no-prisoners defense against Karl Malone on Utah’s final two possessions.

“I’m getting to feel a little like Rudy Tomjanovich on Sam Perkins,” said Sonics coach George Karl. “I don’t know if anybody can stop him.”

He’s talking about the combination of long-range accuracy unrivaled by any other 6-foot-9 galoomph in the NBA and on-the-block muscle and smarts that allow him to battle a Malone head-up in a manner that would have Kemp fouled out by halftime.

But now Karl sees a Perkins of even greater dimension.

“I’ve never seen him this intense emotionally in the locker room, during timeouts and in practices,” Karl said. “He’s the only guy on our team who’s been in the Finals and he wants to get back. It’s almost like me emotionally. At times, I almost start crying because I’m so proud of what we’re doing. At times, Sam Perkins is so out of character and I think it’s because he knows where we’re at.”

Or where the Sonics want to be.

It was with the Lakers in 1991 that Perkins experienced the NBA Finals, albeit but a single victory - that in Game 1 when Perkins drilled a 3-pointer for the winner. That gives him some cachet with his teammates, whether he exercises it or not.

“I always have people tell me to take charge - my family and friends,” he said. “I don’t know what they see, but I just go out there and play basketball. I try to tell my teammates to stay focused, and Game 3 was a matter of us losing our composure, but we’re one game away from the Finals, so it should be worthwhile to show up for the next game.”

And Perkins always seems to show up. Kemp picked up his third foul in the second quarter as the Sonics were trying to inch back from a nine-point deficit. As his relief, Perkins nailed a 3-pointer and a three-point play that put Seattle up five. In all, the Sonics scored on nine of their last 10 possessions of the first half.

Kemp’s fifth foul coincided with Utah’s surge to open the fourth quarter, in which the Sonics - Perkins, Payton or whoever - seemed to be trying to throw beach balls into a bottle of Tabasco.

Karl’s counsel: play defense.

“If we try to be anything else but a defensive team,” he said, “we can have flaws.”

That defense really never took hold until the final 15 seconds. First, Jeff Hornacek forced a hard pass that Malone couldn’t handle and Detlef Schrempf recovered. Then the Sonics swarmed Malone, the obvious go-to guy for Utah’s last hope.

“We crowded him just a little bit - enough for him to be indecisive and force him to kick it out of there,” Perkins said.

When he did, there was Stockton with a good, but long, look - and though the Jazz guard struggled with his shot again Sunday, Karl felt he was staring at a deadlocked series.

“It was on line, I knew that,” Karl said. “What I didn’t like was that Stockton called for the ball and looked like he wanted to shoot it.”

Nope. The guy you want shooting in that situation is Sam Perkins. But only Seattle has one of those.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchette The Spokesman-Review