Game 1 Roundup : Seattle Plays Shy Some SuperSonics

As if playing the hottest team in the NBA--in NBA history, even--isn’t tough enough at full strength, consider the plight of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Nate McMillan, a backup at point guard and forward, continues to be bothered by the sciatica that limited his effectiveness for the final couple games of the Western Conference finals. Come the opener of the championship series, he managed six minutes in the first half, then told Coach George Karl he was done.

Which would have been bad enough except that another key reserve, Frank Brickowski, was ejected after two rapid-fire technicals late in the second quarter. Total contribution: two minutes, two fouls.

“Frank said he didn’t say anything and got two technicals,” Karl said. “I think the NBA has been tremendously unfair to Frank Brickowski. Ever since he got in that fight with David Robinson early in the season, it’s been awful.”

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Johnny Davis, an assistant with the Clippers for one season before joining the Portland Trail Blazers in 1995-96, is a candidate for the head coaching job with the Philadelphia 76ers. Someone out there likes him. Portland hired Davis to join P.J. Carlesimo’s staff on the recommendation of Brad Greenberg, the interim general manager. Now, Greenberg, himself a former Clipper assistant, is in charge of basketball operations in Philadelphia.