SONICS AWAKE, AVOID SWEEP : BULLS BUMBLE AND MISFIRE, LACK RHYTHM SEATTLE 107, CHICAGO 86.Byline: Dwain Price Fort Worth Star-Telegram The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News The Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (or simply Sonics) are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Their mascot's name is Squatch. finally decided to show up for the NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association. The team winning the Eastern Conference Finals earns one of the two berths in the championship round, with the other going to the team that wins the Western Conference Finals. . The Sonics looked super Wednesday night as they avoided the embarrassment of being swept in the finals and prevented - at least temporarily - the Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are a professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They play in the National Basketball Association. The team was founded in 1966, and has won six NBA Championships since. from winning a championship at KeyArena. For the first time in the series, the Sonics played loose, relaxed and with plenty of aggression, looking as if they were having fun as they hammered the Bulls 107-86. The Bulls lead the best-of-seven series 3-1. Game 5 is Friday night in Seattle. A sixth game, if necessary, would be Sunday night Sunday Night, later named Michelob Presents Night Music, was an NBC late-night television show which aired for two seasons between 1988 and 1990 as a showcase for jazz and eclectic musical artists. in Chicago. On Wednesday night, it was as if the two teams changed uniforms. Everything the Sonics did was near-flawless, while the Bulls stumbled, bumbled and made the same mistakes that plagued the less-experienced Seattle squad during the first three games of the series. Inexplicably, the Bulls appeared extremely tight at a time when they could have swept the Sonics and put to rest all doubts as to the greatest NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= team of all time. With their pride restored, the Sonics feel good about themselves going into Friday's game. ``We didn't let them dictate how the game was going to be played,'' Sonics guard Hersey Hawkins Hersey R. Hawkins, Jr. (born September 29, 1966, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American former professional basketball player. After starring at Westinghouse High School in Chicago, the 6' 3" shooting guard attended Bradley University, where he averaged an NCAA Division I-high 36. said. ``They had to react to us instead of us reacting to them. For a change, we were just more aggressive.'' Trailing by 21 points at the half, the Bulls made a run behind Michael Jordan's 11 points in the third quarter. Chicago moved within 76-62, but the Sonics closed the quarter with a rush, aided by Sam Perkins' slam dunk over Dennis Rodman that bumped Seattle's lead to 84-63 as the fourth quarter began. ``The energy level was great here. We could never get the crowd out of the game,'' Bulls coach Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. said. Seattle ``seemed to respond at every time in (the third) quarter. Everybody played well for their team. They got us out of our rhythm. We kept reminding the team during the two days off that Seattle was no slouch slouch v. slouched, slouch·ing, slouch·es v.intr. 1. To sit, stand, or walk with an awkward, drooping, excessively relaxed posture. 2. To droop or hang carelessly, as a hat. v. .'' Three-point baskets by Detlef Schrempf Detlef Schrempf (born January 21 1963, in Leverkusen, Germany) is a former NBA basketball player. High school and college career Schrempf moved to the U.S. his junior year of high school, attending Centralia High in Washington state for two years, leading the Tigers to and Hawkins, and a fast-break layup by Hawkins, boosted the lead to 95-68 early in the fourth quarter. The Bulls never came closer than 18 points. ``I think they were a step faster than we were tonight. They were very active and beating us to loose balls,'' Bulls forward Scottie Pippen Scottie Maurice Pippen (born September 25, 1965 in Hamburg, Arkansas) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). said. ``We realized it was going to be very difficult for us to sweep them. Today was that game that they were looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. . We feel like we didn't play a complete game and we didn't deserve to win.'' Shawn Kemp paced the Sonics with 25 points on 12-of-17 shooting and 11 rebounds. Gary Payton scored 21, and Hawkins had 18, Perkins 17 and Schrempf 14. Jordan led the Bulls with 23 points but made only 6 of 19 shots. Pippen scored only nine points and was 4 of 17 from the floor. With Kemp scoring six points, the Sonics opened an 18-9 lead late in the first quarter. The lead swelled to 16 early in the second quarter and to 53-32 at the half. Jordan seemed content to settle for the jumpers that he couldn't miss in Game 3 and had just seven points on 3-of-9 first-half shooting. Pippen made only 1 of 8 first half shots and had two points at intermission. ``Just put this down as a bad game and look forward to Friday,'' Jordan said. ``We were looking to play better, but we didn't play better. It became a frustrating afternoon.'' Not even the absence of the foul-plagued Kemp, Seattle's leading scorer this season, could slow the Sonics. When Kemp went to the bench with foul trouble with 3:12 left in the first period, the Sonics were clinging to a seven-point cushion. The lead had grown to 14 by the time he returned in the second quarter. 1996 NBA FINALS Chicago leads series, 3-1 Game 1: Chicago 107, Seattle 90 Game 2: Chicago 92, Seattle 88 Game 3: Chicago 108, Seattle 86 Game 4: Seattle 107, Chicago 86 Game 5: Friday at Seattle, 6 p.m. Game 6: Sunday at Chicago, 4:30 p.m. Game 7: Wednesday at Chicago, 6 p.m. -if necessary (All games on NBC-Channel 4) CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--color) Shawn Kemp of the SuperSonics slam s one in and then comes down on Chicago's Dennis Rodman. Nuccio Dinuzzo / Chicago Tribune (2) Seattle's Sam Perkins, right, battles Chicago rebounding demon Dennis Rodman in the second quarter of the SuperSonics' victory. Associated Press Box: SCHEDULE (see text) |
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