NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS : Suns, SuperSonics Meet in Desert Showdown

They have gone from 100-degree desert heat to the rain of the Pacific Northwest and back, and back and forth yet again, the momentum changing as dramatically as the surroundings.

They have traded baskets and barbs. They have won on one another’s courts. They have both looked lethargic one game and energized the next. Neither has had more than a one-game winning streak through it all. It is a matchup that has become as entertaining as it has been competitive.

And now the Phoenix Suns and Seattle SuperSonics have returned to where they started nearly two weeks ago, to the America West Arena and an even slate in the Western Conference finals. After going 2-2 when both teams were at full strength during the regular-season, they are even again at 3-3 in the series, setting up a showdown for the right to advance to the NBA finals.

Game 7. Today, 12:30. It might as well be high noon.

“It’s 48 minutes to the (West) championship,” Seattle’s Shawn Kemp said. “If you can’t get yourself up for this ballgame, you can’t get up.”

The SuperSonics have already been heading in that direction. They have won two of the last three, rallying from miserable shooting at the start of the series to make 50%, 53.7% and 54% of their shots, finding even positives in the one defeat.

That might be the greatest testimony to how Seattle has grabbed the momentum, the lasting impression in that town from the 120-114 defeat in Game 5. Why? Because despite the performances of Charles Barkley and Dan Majerle--Majerle had an NBA playoff-record eight three-pointers--the Suns had only a one-point lead with 24 seconds to play.

The SuperSonics knew then they were in good shape, despite going home with the possibility of elimination. That feeling carried over to Thursday’s convincing 118-102 victory in Game 6.

“I wouldn’t really say it helped,” Seattle’s Nate McMillan said of the Game 5 loss. “But we didn’t feel as bad as we’d normally feel when we lose a playoff game. We felt it was a little bit of luck.”

The Suns, of course, don’t see it the same way.

“That’s why we played the regular season--to have that pivotal game in Phoenix,” Barkley said. “It’s in our control. That’s all you can ask for.”