NBA Playoffs Roundup : Harper’s Small Step Allows Sonics to Take a Big One

It took Derek Harper of the Dallas Mavericks most of the last three years to live down one goof, and now he has another to contemplate.

The talented guard’s mental mistake Saturday night at Dallas gave the Seattle SuperSonics new life as they evened the best-of-five series at one game apiece.

With the score tied, 110-110, the Mavericks had the ball with four seconds left and a chance to go ahead in the series, 2-0.

But Harper was guilty of taking a step along the sidelines before throwing the ball inbounds. That’s a traveling violation, and the SuperSonics had another chance.

They quickly took advantage of it. After former Maverick Dale Ellis was flattened by Sam Perkins while attempting to shoot with two seconds left, he made both free throws, and that gave the Sonics a 112-110 victory.

The win was a big one since the next two games will be played at Seattle.

In the fourth game of the 1984 playoffs against the Lakers, Harper, then a rookie, was also guilty of a mistake that cost the Mavericks dearly.

The Mavericks, with a chance to even their best-of-seven series at two games apiece, were tied at 108-108 and had the ball with seven seconds left. Harper, thinking the Mavericks were one point ahead, dribbled out the clock.

Given a reprieve, the Lakers won in overtime to take a 3-1 lead and went on to win the series.

It was because Harper had developed into such an outstanding player that the Mavericks traded Ellis to the Sonics for journeyman Al Woods.

Ellis is a key reason why the Sonics, after an absence of three years, are back in the playoffs. He was especially happy the Sonics were facing his old team in the first round.

The two free throws in the clutch completed a brilliant performance by Ellis. He scored 32 points, and had 6 rebounds, 5 on the offensive boards, and 6 assists.

“This is what I dreamed of, coming into this building and doing something like this,” Ellis told the Associated Press. “You wonder if you’re going to get a call (from the referee) in that situation. But it was so obvious with three guys guarding me, and two of them knocked me out of bounds. They had to call it.

“This is the first time we’ve even played them close. We knew we had to have it.”

Dallas Coach Dick Motta grumbled about the call that made Harper a goat once more.

“That’s a picky call,” Motta said. “If they are going to call traveling there, they could have called a lot of traveling during the rest of the game.

“But the Sonics had a great effort. They were more intense. I thought we were ready for a big game, but we paid too much attention to our press clippings.”

It wasn’t a good night for Harper even before the final four seconds. In 33 minutes, he made only 2 of 8 shots.

Utah 103, Golden State 100--Darrell Griffith scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter at Salt Lake City to bring the Jazz from behind and give them a 2-0 lead in this series.

The Jazz built a 63-42 lead in the second quarter, but Joe Barry Carroll led a spirited rally that enabled the Warriors to take their first lead, 92-90, with six minutes remaining. Carroll, who had 22 points, fouled out with 3:35 left.

It wasn’t until Griffith, breaking free with a behind-the-back dribble, made a layup with 37 seconds remaining that the Jazz regained the lead for good.

Karl Malone finished off the Warriors with a dunk with seven seconds left. At the finish, Malone and several Warriors were in a shoving match.