Lakers Will Try to Finish Off the SuperSonics Today

James Worthy and the Lakers want to end their NBA Western Conference final playoff series against the Seattle SuperSonics today by completing a four-game sweep.

“We don’t want to prolong the series,” Worthy said.

“I don’t want to use the word sweep, but it’s a possibility now,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said.

The Lakers lead the best-of-seven series, 3-0, after beating the SuperSonics 122-121 in Game 3 Saturday at the Seattle Coliseum, as Worthy scored a career-high 39 points.

Game 4 will begin today at noon. Game 5, if necessary, will be Wednesday night in the Forum in Inglewood.

No team in NBA history has overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series.

“It doesn’t look good for us,” said the SuperSonics’ Xavier McDaniel, who scored a career-high 42 points in Game 3. “We’re in the hospital, in critical condition. But we’re not going to go down without a good fight.”

“We’re going to go out and play the best we can,” SuperSonic Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. “If we don’t win Monday, we go on vacation.”

The Lakers had the NBA’s best regular-season record of 65-17, 26 more victories than the SuperSonics’ 39-43 mark, and have won 10 of 11 playoff games. They swept Denver, 3-0, and beat Golden State, 4-1, in their first two playoff series.

But the Lakers’ three playoff victories over the SuperSonics have been by a total of only 14 points. The Lakers won the first two games, 92-87, and, 112-104, at the Forum.

“The (SuperSonics) never quit,” Riley said. “You can’t feel comfortable with them.”

“This is not an easy team,” NBA most valuable player Magic Johnson of the Lakers said of the SuperSonics. “Everything you get you have to work for against them.”

“They’re tough,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Lakers said. “They’re playing hard. They want to win. But they’ve got to think about winning four games in a row now.”

Abdul-Jabbar scored 28 points in Game 3, while Johnson had 19 points and 11 assists. The 40-year-old Abdul-Jabbar played 42 minutes.

“I’m very proud of our players and I’ve told them so,” Bickerstaff said. “But down the stretch, the Lakers are doing what they need to do. They’re just a better basketball team than we are.”

“I always think you can do a little more,” McDaniel said. “I think we can be more physical. And we’ve got to play better defense.”

Worthy is averaging 25 points in the playoffs and 32 against the SuperSonics. Saturday, he made 16 of 25 field goal attempts in 42 minutes.

Worthy said during the past month he was playing the best ball of his five-year NBA career.

“A lot of it has to do with patience,” he said. “You get the ball where you like it and let things happen.”

“James is a different player now,” Johnson said. “He’s talking on the court, taking control, doing it all. His jump shot has opened up the drive for him.”

“By far, he’s playing the best basketball in the playoffs,” Riley said. “He’s been unstoppable. I don’t know where we’d be without him. I can’t keep him on the court long enough. I’d like to keep him out there all 48 minutes.”

“It’s difficult to stop the great players,” Bickerstaff said. “I haven’t found a way to do it. I don’t have the answers.”

“I haven’t been surprised by the way he’s played,” said McDaniel, who failed to stop Worthy on Saturday. “During the playoffs, the Lakers go to him a lot more and he works a lot harder. It doesn’t help when he’s making his outside shots like he’s been doing.”

“(The Lakers) are playing much better basketball this year than they were at this time last year,” said SuperSonic veteran Maurice Lucas, a member of the Lakers last season. “They’re playing like they want to win it all.”