Perkins Switch Doesn’t Wake SuperSonics : Pro basketball: He starts in place of Johnson, but the move fails to pay off as Seattle again faces first-round elimination.

With his droopy eyelids, swingman Sam Perkins of the Seattle SuperSonics looks half asleep.

But Coach George Karl was hoping Perkins could wake up the SuperSonics in game three of their Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Lakers at the Forum on Monday night.

Karl started Perkins in place of center Ervin Johnson, who started the first two games of the series and averaged five points and six rebounds.

But the move didn’t work as the Lakers beat the SuperSonics, 105-101, to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

“It’s not over yet,” Perkins said. “We’ve just got to play. There’s nothing to talk about. Whatever we talk about, it’s not going to make a difference.”

Karl looked drained as he walked off the court after the game, the worry lines clearly etched on his forehead.

But he thinks the SuperSonics can recover.

“I believe in this team,” he said. “I love this team. I’m disappointed, but winning two games in a row, we can do that. We’ve been there before.

“Two years ago, in the Utah series, we had our backs to the wall ready to jump off the bridge (before winning the final two games to eliminate the Jazz in a first-round series). All series come to this.”

Guard Kendall Gill agreed.

“It’s unfortunate that we lost this game because I think we should have swept this team,” said Gill, who was benched for the entire the second half. “For some reason, we haven’t been able to put it together. We’ve got to come out Thursday and fight for our lives.”

But the not-so-SuperSonics must be thinking about last year when, after compiling the NBA’s best regular-season record, they lost to the Denver Nuggets in five games.

It was the first time in NBA history that a team seeded No. 8 had beaten a top-seeded team.

Now, the SuperSonics are one loss from again being eliminated.

Seattle, which has lost six of eight games to the Lakers this season, must win back-to-back games from them to avoid being ousted.

“Our whole season goes on Thursday night,” said guard Nate McMillan, who had two points and 10 assists Monday. “We gotta play, there’s no secret about it. If we don’t play Thursday, we go home. It’s as simple as that. They’ve outplayed us the last two games.”

As if the SuperSonics didn’t have enough to worry about, the feud between Gill and Karl has resurfaced.

Gill asked to be traded and, when the SuperSonics refused, he missed five games after being diagnosed with clinical depression.

On Monday night, he failed to score a point in 10 minutes in the first half and was benched.

Was he surprised?

“Yes, but that’s happened before, so it wasn’t that big of a surprise,” Gill said. “I’m disappointed. I want to play. I want to help the team, but that’s the coach’s decision and I have to live with it. But no matter what I’m still with the team.

“My heart is broken because we lost. I want to win the championship. We’ve still got a chance, but we dug ourselves a hole.”

Perkins, who had 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists, did his best to carry the SuperSonics, who were outscored, 12-2, at the start of the game and fell behind by 18 points in the second quarter.

“We got shocked early,” Karl said. “Our fight didn’t start until we got 15-18 points down. But it’s not over. We’ve been here before and it’s going to take a lot of work, but we’ve done it before too.”