NBA FINALS : Suns Could Use Some Magic From Johnson : Game 3: Phoenix heads into Chicago two games down, with point guard’s poor performance getting much of the blame.

The city with broad shoulders welcomes the player with the weight of the Phoenix Suns on his, the point guard many are pointing fingers at for an 0-2 deficit in the NBA finals.

The Suns are the first team to open the championship series with two home losses, and Kevin Johnson, a Phoenix favorite for 5 1/2 seasons, has had the burden of that failure dropped in his lap.

Of course there are other reasons why the Chicago Bulls head into Game 3 tonight at Chicago Stadium with a commanding lead in the quest for a third consecutive title--such as, maybe they are the better team. Then again, Johnson is six of 21 with eight assists and nine turnovers as his team has lost by eight and three points.

Even his coach, Paul Westphal, appears doubting. He doesn’t say so, but the Game 2 actions do: lifting Johnson in favor of Frank Johnson with 4:20 left in a six-point game and keeping him on the bench until 1:48 remained. That was the capper to going two of eight and failing to draw a foul on drives down the lane, with six assists and four turnovers in 32 minutes.

“It was a rough day for Kevin,” Westphal said. “He’s taking this as hard as anybody. He can’t get down on himself. Kevin Johnson will come back and have an excellent series. But in the fourth quarter, I can’t be worried about people’s confidence.”

Said Johnson: “I’m not going to question Paul. It certainly bothered me, but I can’t say I disagree with him.”

There is plenty of evidence to support the move.

Johnson, coming off an injury-riddled regular season that limited him to a career-low 49 games, played very well the first two rounds. In 10 games against the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, he averaged 19.6 points, 9.4 assists against 3.3 turnovers while shooting 53.1% in 40 minutes.

Then came the conference finals against Seattle and the championship series: nine games, a drop to 35.8 minutes, 14 points, 42.6% and an assist-to-turnover average of 6.3-3.8. The cold shooting comes as Johnson continues to penetrate the lane, but is unable to finish the play, missing several layups, especially against the Bulls.

“He was frustrated,” Chicago Coach Phil Jackson said after Game 1, when Johnson missed nine of 13 shots and had five turnovers and two assists. “I don’t think he was rattled. But he was frustrated.”

Westphal’s comments indicate he is still firmly behind Johnson. But he has also been reducing the time of his starting point guard with each series, unlike the use of the Suns’ other stars, Charles Barkley and Dan Majerle. Johnson has gone from 41.8 minutes against the Lakers to 38.8 in the second round against the Spurs to 36.3 in the conference finals to 34 this series.

“For our team to win, I have to be able to contribute a great deal more than I have in the last two ballgames,” Johnson said. “That’s for sure.

“I know you can’t hide. It’s obvious I have to play much better for our team to be effective, and knowing that, I’m just glad I’m healthy and I have the opportunity.”

Starting tonight. Before it really is too late.

NBA Notes

Phoenix forward Tom Chambers: “We’re going to try to stay as fired up as possible and do whatever we can to come back and win. We need to play a little better, we need to work a little harder. We need to act like we want it more than they do, and I don’t think we do.” . . . The Suns won the only regular-season meeting at Chicago Stadium, 113-109, on March 30. “I know it looks very, very bad,” Sun Coach Paul Westphal said. “But we have won a game in Chicago, and I think we can do it again. If we win one, I think we can win two. And that’s what we have to do to bring it back home.”

Westphal’s rotation at small forward continues to confound. He started Cedric Ceballos for only the second time all playoffs in Game 1 of the conference finals, calling it a whim. Then he went back to Richard Dumas by Game 3. For Game 7, with Ceballos sidelined because of a foot injury, Chambers was in the opening lineup and Dumas didn’t play at all. Then Dumas started Game 1 against the Bulls and responded with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He was in the opening lineup again Friday, but got only 17 minutes--two in the second half. . . . The Bulls have a six-game winning streak in the playoffs and are 7-1 on the road the last three years in the finals.