Warriors Are No Match for Suns : Majerle, Corbin Play Key Roles in Phoenix’s 130-103 Rout

On a 104-degree afternoon in the Arizona desert, a mirage appeared. It was identified as the Golden State Warriors.

It didn’t look like the Warriors, though, not the team that just completed one of the biggest playoff upsets in National Basketball Assn. history.

But no reality check was needed for the Phoenix Suns, who out-matched the champion matchmaker himself, Don Nelson, and made beating the Warriors look easy during a 130-103 trouncing Saturday in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Any momentum Golden State had after shocking Utah in three games of the first round evaporated by halftime, when the Suns led, 66-51, despite making only 14 of 22 free throws.

Little did the Warriors realize then how nice it would feel to be down by only 15.

Phoenix opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run, which was soon extended to 17-6 and 26-10. That made the lead 92-61, at which point Nelson, the Warrior coach, switched gears and went with the Thin Towers--7-foot-7 Manute Bol and 7-4 Ralph Sampson.

The Suns took one look at that lineup and bulked up the lead to 35 points, 106-71, with 1:01 to play in the period. They matched it several times in the fourth quarter and never let Golden State within 25 points. The sellout crowd of 14,471 loved every minute.

“They blew us out,” Nelson said. “They embarrassed us. That’s it.”

Was the outcome a surprise?

Only considering the Warriors’ showing against Utah. But the Suns beat Golden State four of six times during the regular season by an average of 22.8 points, and all three times here.

Where did Phoenix dominate?

“There wasn’t anything that didn’t hurt us tonight,” Nelson said.

True. The Suns led in rebounding, 66-49; shot 51% from the field to Golden State’s 44.8%; and had four of five starters score in double figures and six players in all. Tom Chambers led with 25 points, and Kevin Johnson had 15 points and 11 assists.

How did Phoenix do with ease what an equally talented team like Utah couldn’t accomplish even once?

Matchups. With Nelson’s direction, the Warriors became the fourth-most improved team in league history from one season to the next by relying on a small, quick lineup against size. Usually, it worked, obviously quite nicely against the Jazz.

But the Suns, who staged the third-best turnaround ever in the NBA, had answers. The most important one came in the form of Dan Majerle, who turned Mitch Richmond, his former Olympic teammate and the league’s rookie of the year, into a non-factor by muscling him inside. With the low post sealed off, where Richmond usually takes weaker shooting guards, he finished just 5 of 14 from the field for 12 points in 32 minutes.

“When he plays well,” Kevin Johnson said of Majerle, “I don’t think there are many teams that can beat us. That’s how much he means to this team coming off the bench.”

Majerle, who scored 22 points in a game-high 38 minutes off the bench, usually gets more playing time against the Warriors. He averaged 8.6 points against the league, but hit Golden State for 13.0 in five meetings.

His ability to match up with Richmond has also been well chronicled. It’s been a sidelight competition during the season and dating back to tryouts and practices for the Olympic team.

Majerle had this kind of success against Richmond then, too.

“I must have, because I made the team,” he said.

There was far less uncertainty about his importance Saturday.

“Every game, it seems like a different guy steps up and gets us motivated,” said the Suns’ sixth man, Eddie Johnson, who wound up with 20 points despite a poor 3-for-12 shooting performance in the first half. “Tyrone Corbin did it in the first quarter with his offensive boards and then Majerle did it from there.”

Added Nelson: “The people who really hurt us were not the big guys on the boards. It wasn’t Mark West or (Armon) Gilliam or Chambers. It was the small physical people. It was the Majerles, it was the Corbins.”

About the only satisfaction for the Warriors now is having several days to devise a response, with Game 2 here Tuesday night.

“We’re not going to get discouraged,” Nelson said. “We still are going to play with confidence and discipline. Sometimes, you need to scold a team and sometimes you need to praise them and show them support. Today is one of those times they need support.”

Notes

Golden State center Ralph Sampson, who earns $1.96 million for this season, made his first appearance of the playoffs, having been kept on the bench for all three Utah games. He had six points and two rebounds in 10 minutes. . . . Chris Mullin, who came in as the league’s No. 2 scorer in the playoffs at 32.7 points per game, had 18. That tied Terry Teagle for tops among the Warriors. . . . Add match-up analysis: “Utah’s offense is based on taking everything inside, with (Mark) Eaton, (Karl) Malone and (Thurl) Bailey,” Phoenix Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said. “But our offense is based on shots off the entire floor and scoring off defense. Then, when we needed to take it inside, we could.”. . . The winner of this best-of-seven series will meet the winner of the Laker-Seattle series.