NBA Playoff Roundup : Ellis (Who Else?) Leads Sonics to 2-0 Lead Over Rockets

Dale Ellis started hot and finished hot Tuesday night at Houston to lead the Seattle SuperSonics to a 99-97 victory over the Rockets that gave the SuperSonics a surprising 2-0 lead in the National Basketball Assn. playoff series.

Ellis, apparently not upset by his and teammate Kevin Williams’ arrest early Sunday morning at a Houston nightclub, scored 20 points in the first half, then cooled off until the closing minutes.

Ellis made two jumpers in the last two minutes, the second with 1:33 left to give the SuperSonics the lead for good, 98-97.

Both teams had several chances to score in the last 93 seconds. First, Houston’s Akeem Olajuwon, who scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half, couldn’t handle an alley-oop pass from Rodney McCray, and, after Tom Chambers made one of two free throws, missed a jumper as time ran out.

The SuperSonics return home for the next two games. Only one team in NBA playoff history has lost the first two games at home and won the series.

This loss couldn’t be blamed on the Twin Towers. Ralph Sampson had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Olajuwon also had 13 rebounds.

But the Rockets couldn’t stop Ellis.

“I didn’t do too well in the second half,” said Ellis, who scored 6 of his 30 points in the last three minutes, “until the very end.

“They were really concentrating on me. Robert Reid did a good job on me, but I don’t care who’s guarding me.”

The SuperSonics, who finished the regular season at 39-43, were seventh seeded among the eight playoff teams in the West. They stunned the Dallas Mavericks by winning three in a row after the Mavericks won the first game.

“We have a lot of guys nobody wanted,” Seattle Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. “They’ve been winning as a group. Dale is playing great, we all know that. But the other guys are setting screens for him to get open.”

Rocket Coach Bill Fitch said his team has to score 100 points to win. “We are putting dirt in our own faces,” he said. “We’re either through or just getting started.”

Boston 111, Milwaukee 98--Maybe some teams don’t like a week off during the playoffs, but obviously, the Celtics do.

A well-rested Larry Bird had 40 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists at Boston to lead the Celtics to victory in the series opener. The Celtics played so well, they didn’t even miss Kevin McHale, out with a sprained ankle.

The Bucks, who won an emotional finale from the Philadelphia 76ersSunday, were bothered by the tough Boston defense and shot only 40.6% from the field.

Paul Pressey, the forward assigned to guard Bird most of the time, missed all 12 shots he tried.

John Lucas was unable to ignite get the Bucks’ fast break. In 28 minutes, he had only 8 points and 5 assists.

“Boston clearly outplayed our club,” Sidney Moncrief said. “We missed a lot of shots. We didn’t adjust to playing Boston. Mentally, we were still playing Philadelphia.”

Atlanta 115, Detroit 102--After losing the opener at Atlanta to the hustling Pistons, the Hawks reasoned they were going to get blown out if they didn’t get help from someone other than Dominique Wilkins.

Randy Wittman, shaking off a back problem, and Kevin Willis responded. Wittman, deadly from the field, scored 34 points, sinking 15 of 25 shots. Willis scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds.

“I thought Wittman was great,” Hawks Coach Mike Fratello said. “He made some key shots. He has a bad back that slows him up, and sometimes we have to take him out of there. But tonight, he played great.”

The Pistons won the first game Sunday, 112-111, mainly because Isiah Thomas was sensational. The Hawks did a good job of slowing down the playmaker in this one. Thomas had 20 points but only 6 assists.