SuperSonics Facing Elimination Again

The Minnesota Timberwolves are growing up quickly, and now they’re one game away from knocking the Seattle SuperSonics out of the playoffs.

Playing with all the poise and confidence they’re supposed to lack, the seventh-seeded Timberwolves stunned the playoff-tested SuperSonics on Tuesday night with a 15-4 fourth-quarter run on the way to a 98-90 victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

Minnesota, which made its first trip to the Western Conference playoffs last season and won its first postseason game at second-seeded Seattle on Sunday, can win its first series Thursday night at home against the SuperSonics, who have been upset twice in the 1990s in the early rounds of the playoffs.

Anthony Peeler led Minnesota with a career playoff-high 20 points, shaking off his seven-for-32 shooting performance in the first two games to go seven for 15, including four for seven from three-point range.

That included a three-point basket for an 83-76 lead with 5:58 to play, matching Minnesota’s biggest of the game. But it turned out only to be part of the surge during which Seattle fell apart and the Timberwolves capitalized on nearly every opportunity.

Gary Payton scored 26 points to lead the SuperSonics, who led by as many as 11 in the first quarter, but wilted against the Timberwolves’ “small-ball” lineup, which routinely keeps three guards on the floor.

Vin Baker added 17 points and 12 rebounds for Seattle, which lost despite outrebounding Minnesota for the first time in the series, 42-29.

Miami 91, New York 85--In what has become the “Cutthroat Series,” the Heat are now wielding the knife.

The Heat overcame foul trouble, a hostile New York crowd and Alonzo Mourning’s lack of offense to regain control of their best-of-five series, 2-1.

Miami even rubbed it in a little as Eric Murdock made a throat-slashing gesture late in the fourth quarter--the same one that Chris Childs of New York made late in Game 2--after making a three-point shot with 4:15 left that put the Heat ahead by nine.

“He did that?” teammate Tim Hardaway said. “Shoot, I wanted to do that. I’ll do it Thursday.”

Voshon Lenard led the Heat with 28 points, all in the first three quarters, and Hardaway added 27. Murdock scored 11 as Miami had only three double-figure scorers.

Mourning, in foul trouble for the first three quarters, finished with seven points on three-for-13 shooting. He made a huge contribution on defense, however, by blocking a pair of shots, forcing a traveling call and winning a jump ball on four consecutive possessions late in the game to kill the Knicks’ chances to get close.

Allan Houston scored 27 for the Knicks, but he failed to register a point in the fourth quarter. Larry Johnson added 22 points.

Atlanta 96, Charlotte 64--After blowing double-figure leads to lose each of the first two games, the Hawks turned up the defensive pressure on Glen Rice and the Hornets, who matched the lowest-scoring playoff game in NBA history at Atlanta.

“We played to our strength,” said Steve Smith, one of six Hawks in double figures with 15 points. “Our strength is defense. We decided, ‘Let’s go out there and play defense. If the offense isn’t there, at least the defense will be there.”’

Charlotte, now leading the best-of-five series, 2-1, tied the record for fewest points set by Portland in a 1996 postseason game at Utah and equaled by Orlando against Miami last year.

The Hawks, primarily Tyrone Corbin, did a magnificent job shutting down Rice, who averaged 29 points in the two victories at Charlotte. He had only eight points in Game 3, hitting three of 13 shots from the field.

Anthony Mason scored 12 points for the Hornets, who trailed by 12 points after the first quarter and never got closer than seven afterward.