THE NBA PLAYOFFS : Three’s the Charm for Lakers

While the SuperSonics worry that Dale Ellis isn’t getting his shots and Tom Chambers took one shot too many, Laker Coach Pat Riley hopes that his team continues to follow its playoff pattern this afternoon in Game 3 of their National Basketball Assn. Western Conference finals.

“Against Dallas and against Golden State, our best game has been our third game, on the road,” Riley said.

“We’ve just gone in there, knowing what we had to do, and gotten a real defined effort. I hope tomorrow we come in with that same attitude.”

The Lakers closed out the Nuggets in Denver, 140-103, in Game 3 there, and coasted to a 133-108 win over the Warriors in Oakland to take a 3-0 lead in that series.

They have yet to overwhelm Seattle, which has lost by five and eight points, respectively, in the first two games in Los Angeles.

Ellis, however, has been limited to 33 points in two games after coming into the series averaging more than 28 points a game in the playoffs.

The SuperSonics are 6-0 in playoff games in which Ellis has either scored 22 points or more or taken 22 shots or more. When he hasn’t, they’re 1-5.

So far in this series, Ellis has taken just 29 shots, making 14 of them for a sub-par 41.4%. He vowed to come out gunning this weekend.

“I think he’ll be more aggressive and put it up more,” Riley said. “But we’ll just have to continue to stay on him like flypaper. We can’t give him an open pocket to shoot. Every shot must be contested.”

Chambers, meanwhile, has drawn the ire of Coach Bernie Bickerstaff for suggesting that referee Ed Middleton made a wager on Tuesday’s game. Chambers, who scored only eight points while drawing five fouls, was fined $1,000 for the remarks. He has apologized, but Bickerstaff fears it may be too late.

“We made a tragic mistake when we jumped the official,” Bickerstaff told reporters. “Our statement could be our doom.

“I just hope the officials can overlook it as something said during the heat of the moment.”

In Chambers’ case, that may not be so easy. The officials are likely to also remember an incident three years ago, when Chambers shoved referee John Vanak. He was fined $1,000 after that incident.

Seattle must also find a way to keep James Worthy from torching the Seattle Center Coliseum in the first quarter. Worthy is averaging 28.5 points in the first two games, and has been especially potent in the first quarter. Tuesday, he had 19 points in the opening 12 minutes; in Game 1, he had 13 points by the first buzzer.

“He wasn’t the reason we lost either game,” Bickerstaff said. “We had a chance to win both games and Worthy didn’t hurt us down the stretch.”

If form holds, Byron Scott should be due for a big game this afternoon.

For reasons he can’t explain, Scott has played much better on the road in these playoffs than at home.

In seven games at home, Scott is averaging 14.3 points, is shooting 43.5% from the floor (37 of 85), and 66.7% from the foul line (22 of 33).

In three games on the road, Scott is averaging 23.3 points, is shooting 61.4% from the floor (27 of 44) and 88.2% (15 of 17) from the line.