SuperSonics Put Cubs to Bed

Fairy tales can come true but this one didn’t.

The precocious Minnesota Timberwolves chased the veteran Seattle SuperSonics into the second half of Game 5 Saturday before their carriage turned into a pumpkin and they succumbed, 97-84, disappointing not only the folks back home in Minnesota but the Lakers and their fans who cheered the young guys on avidly in the hopes of meeting them in the next round of the NBA playoffs.

Not that the Timberwolves didn’t let the SuperSonics know they were here. They hit 10 of 15 three-point shots in the first half and led by 11 as the Ghost of SuperSonic Playoffs Past fluttered into memory and everyone began wondering, if the kids stayed close, what m-m-m-might happen.

“What I said at halftime,” said a relieved George Karl, still the coach of the SuperSonics, “I’m almost certain they’re gonna start missing, so get the rebounds.

“I think another one of our coaches said, if they shoot 10 for 15 again . . . the gods might be messing with us.”

Providentially, it was only Anthony Peeler and Terry Porter and the Timberwolves they had to worry about, who did, indeed, start missing, going one for 10 on three-point baskets and watching their franchise players turn back into children.

Kevin Garnett, who made three of six shots in the first half, went 0 for 5 in the second with eight turnovers.

Stephon Marbury, who spent the series inside the lane, collapsing the SuperSonic defense but couldn’t make a shot to save himself, went one for eight in the second half. When the SuperSonics took their first double-figure lead, with 8:44 left, the Timberwolves had scored only 19 points in the second half.

What was there to say but goodbye.

“I’m gonna go down with a fight,” Marbury said of his late flings. “I learned something, though. I learned you got to be patient on every play. We started rushing our shots. We started forcing things, taking ill-advised shots.”

As tuneups, this was more like getting piled on by somebody’s kindergarten for the SuperSonics. In a desperate maneuver, with his centers hurt (and of marginal use in the best of times), Minnesota’s Flip Saunders tried a three-guard lineup in Game 2, after having been pummeled by 25 in Game 1.

Surprise!

Suddenly, the Timberwolves found themselves beating the SuperSonics at their own scrambling game.

The SuperSonics staved off elimination in Game 4 in Minneapolis on Thursday and flew home but found no peace. Before Game 5, Karl said he was “an angry pup,” refusing to say what was bothering him. The early line was: 2-1, writers’ critiques of his coaching, and 3-1, comments by owner Barry Ackerley, noting Karl hadn’t won him any titles.

Then there was the Micheal Williams affair. Williams, the Timberwolves’ No. 4 guard and a valuable contributor in this series, was suspended in a late call by the NBA, when tapes showed he had left the bench during a minor faceoff in Game 4. Karl suggested he hadn’t tipped off anyone at the league office but Minnesota officials were grumbling about their suspicions.

Imagine how Saunders felt when the new No. 4 guard, ex-Laker Reggie Jordan, banked in a long three-point basket at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter.

With Vin Baker paralyzed by double-teams, someone else would have to save the SuperSonics. It was, of course, Gary Payton, who had 10 of their 44 points, three of their 11 assists and three of their five steals by halftime. And, of course, a thing or two to say to Peeler, who was matched against him.

“My whole thing was not to go at it verbally with him,” Peeler said. “That just makes him a better player. I tried to avoid it as much as possible.”

And?

“We said it all the other night,” Peeler said. “There’s only so much you can say to each other because we’re good friends.”

The SuperSonics surged ahead in the third quarter, when three Hersey Hawkins’ three-point shots dropped. The Timberwolves faded away. Payton stayed out there for all 48 minutes--during which he scored 29 points, with four assists and four steals--to make sure.

Karl kept asking him if he was OK. Payton kept saying yes.

“In the first half, when that opportunity came about, [the Timberwolves] made their run,” Karl said, “so I threw that one out the window. . . . Then, in the second half, I asked him, hoping he would say no, and he did.”

All of Sonic-dom exhaled, for a moment, anyway.

“Some of them guys like Garnett, Marbury, played seven playoff games,” an admiring Payton said later. “Think about when they get a lot of experience and what they’re going to do.”

That’s a problem for another day. With only a 51-hour turnaround, the SuperSonics would be in the Western Conference semifinals and they wouldn’t have to worry about any more little lineups.

The ground is shaking up here. The Lakers are coming.

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NBA PLAYOFFS

LAKERS vs. SEATTLE

(Best of seven)

Monday: at Seattle, 6 p.m., Ch. 9

Wednesday: at Seattle, 7:30 p.m., Ch. 9

Friday: at Forum, 7:30 p.m., FSW, TNT

May 10: at Forum, TBA

May 12: at Seattle, TBA*

May 14: at Forum, TBA*

May 16: at Seattle, TBA*