Seattle Is Behind Eight-Ball : NBA playoffs: Mutombo has eight blocks, Pack scores 23 as Nuggets oust top-seeded SuperSonics, 98-94.

Denver center Dikembe Mutombo was overcome with emotion after the Nuggets ousted the Seattle SuperSonics from the NBA playoffs with a stunning 98-94 overtime victory Saturday in the decisive fifth game of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Mutombo, who had eight points, 15 rebounds and a playoff-record eight blocked shots, fell to the court and hugged the ball like a father cradling a newborn baby as the game ended.

“It was emotion coming from my heart,” Mutombo said. “I just couldn’t believe that we won this series. We’ve been called underdogs all series long, especially after the way we got whipped (a 24-point loss) in Game 1.

“We are part of history right now. I dreamed that this game went into overtime. I wasn’t sure that it was the same dream as the game showed, but when we went to overtime I knew that this dream was correct and we were going to win this ballgame.”

Before a stunned sellout crowd of 14,813 at the Seattle Center Coliseum, the Nuggets pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history as they became the first eighth-seeded team to eliminate a top-seeded team. After losing the first two games of the series, the Nuggets won three in row, the last two in overtime, against the SuperSonics, who compiled the NBA’s best regular-season record (63-19).

“Everyone had penciled them into the finals,” said Nugget backup guard Robert Pack, who scored a career-high 23 points. “Watching TV all week, (sportscasters) were saying we didn’t have a chance. We wanted to come out and prove a lot of people wrong, and we did.”

The loss stunned the SuperSonics, who were booed off the court after losing for the first time in 15 home games.

“This is embarrassing,” said Seattle guard Kendall Gill, who had a team-high 22 points.

Forward Sam Perkins agreed.

“I thought this team really did have a chance to win the championship,” Perkins said. “We’re doing a lot of soul-searching right now.”

Denver will face the Utah Jazz, which advanced by beating the San Antonio Spurs in four games, in a Western Conference semifinal series that opens Tuesday night at Salt Lake City. The Nuggets were 1-4 against the Jazz during the regular season.

Pack, formerly of USC, outplayed Seattle All-Star point guard Gary Payton, who had 14 points and eight assists, scoring 22 second-half points. Denver, which trailed 44-41 at halftime, outscored the SuperSonics, 57-50, in the second half and overtime.

“I just wanted to come out and play hard and show the nation that I belong in this league,” said Pack, who made three of five three-point shots in the second half as Denver overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit. “No one gave me a shot to be in the league, but I didn’t give up.”

Denver reserve forward Brian Williams had career highs of 17 points and 19 rebounds as Denver’s reserves outscored Seattle’s reserves, 42-19. With Mutombo on the bench for the last eight minutes of the first half because of foul trouble, Williams had seven points and seven rebounds in the second quarter to help keep the Nuggets close.

The Nuggets did a superb job on the boards, outrebounding the SuperSonics, 58-36. They also did a good job of defending All-Star forward Shawn Kemp, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds but shot only 37.1% in the series.

Trailing, 78-70, the SuperSonics outscored the Nuggets, 18-10, in the final 5:57 of regulation to send the game into overtime tied at 88-88 on Gill’s putback with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Mutombo, who had an NBA record 31 blocks in the five-game series, forced Payton to shoot an airball, but the Nuggets failed to box out Gill.

The Nuggets, however, didn’t fold in overtime despite four 24-second violations. Trailing, 92-90, Denver outscored Seattle, 8-2, in the final 3:06 of overtime.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” Seattle guard Nate McMillan said. “I’m going to get up tomorrow and have nothing to do and it’s May.”