Threatt's Gamble Pays Off -- `I'll Take Pressure' 3-Pointer Keeps Portland From Celebrating Sweep

The situation begged for restraint, not risk.

Down two games on the road, an NBA team might consider shooting the dice for the victory. But teams at home usually don't play that way - not in the playoffs and certainly not while faced with the probability of the final seconds of their season.

Yet, with the situation heated up like the sun-baked vacation beaches that seemed to beckon his Seattle SuperSonics, the cooler, aerodynamically razored head of Sedale Threatt prevailed.

Never mind that the Sonics trailed 99-97 with 11 seconds to play, and down 0-2 in their best-of-five, first-round playoff series with the Portland Trail Blazers. Convention be damned, Threatt was going for it all.

"No question, I wanted the ball," he said after shooting the Sonics to a 102-99 victory in the Coliseum last night. "I wanted to win the game. I didn't want a tie. I would've taken responsibility if we lost."

Against the odds, against the admonition of his coach, Threatt received the ball, kept it and set his sights from beyond the three-point line. In rapid succession, he crossed his dribble, passed the ball between his legs and leaned forward, as if to drive to the basket.

Danny Ainge bit, and Threatt hoisted his victory-or-vacation shot. When the three-pointer passed through the net with four seconds left, all that was left was for Gary Payton to pilfer Ainge's ensuing inbound pass. The Sonic rookie then shuttled the ball, via Threatt, to Nate McMillan for a buzzer-beating layup.

The Trail Blazers, so poised to whisk out of town on their brooms that they didn't even book hotel rooms for the next couple of days, now must stick around for Game 4 in the Coliseum tomorrow night.

Surprise?

"We have no timeouts, he (Threatt) is holding the ball, watching the clock, and I'm wondering what he's up to," Sonic Coach K.C. Jones said. "Then it hit me what he was going to do. I totally agreed with the attempt, whether he made it or not."

Surprise.

For the Sonics, the evening was full of them, from Benoit Benjamin's 26-point inside dominance and 14-for-14 foul shooting to Derrick McKey's miracle-of-medicine recovery from a sprained ankle that kept him sidelined during Game 2 Sunday.

Both had the effect of setting up the night's final, and biggest, flabbergasting development.

"Derrick was a big factor," Threatt said of McKey, who had 13 points, including a game-tying, fadeaway jumper with 38.8 seconds to play. McKey also had seven rebounds, two steals and helped key an 18-2 Sonic run in the first half.

"I think the turning point was getting the ball inside to Benoit," Threatt said. "It really opened things up outside."

No Sonic took fuller advantage of the exposed perimeter than Threatt. His range usually capped at about 18 feet, he shot five three-pointers, making three, en route to a playoff career-high 29 points. Having established the jump shot, he switched gears when the Sonics needed it most.

After the Blazers stormed back with a 17-2 outburst at the start of the third quarter, Threatt kick-started the stalled Sonic offense with consecutive driving layups. Soon after, he drained two straight jumpers to restore the Seattle lead to 66-65, then drilled a three-pointer a minute later.

Threatt capped a 13-point third quarter with another penetration basket with 40.8 seconds left. By then, the Sonic guards, conditioned to funneling the ball to Eddie Johnson or Ricky Pierce, had broken the habit.

"When Sedale hits three or four shots in a row, you've got to keep going to him," rookie starter Gary Payton said. "When he's hot, I think he's the best player in the league with his combination of outside shooting and ability to penetrate."

Threatt had been on the bench for the first 7:30 of the fourth quarter, and had not clicked off a single shot, when it came time to take the biggest one of the evening. Still, Nate McMillan, running the show at the time, encouraged Threatt to make himself available.

McMillan, who had his most effective outing of the series with seven assists, two steals, a block and no turnovers, said, "I've played with Sedale for three years now, and I can just look at him and know when he's on. It's the look in his eyes, the way he's sweating. With the seconds ticking away, and the game on the line, he always wants the ball.

"Once, in the third quarter, we had set up a play to get the ball inside. When we were coming out of the timeout, Sedale whispered to me, `Mac, give me the ball.' I broke the play, and gave him the ball, and he drove inside for a basket. When he's on, that's what you have to do."

SONIC REPORT SEATTLE 102, PORTLAND 99

NOTES

-- After making the most noise for the Sonics offensively during Games 1 and 2 in Portland, Eddie Johnson was mostly silenced during Game 3. He still managed to have a profound effect on his club's 102-99 victory.

With Johnson trying to get his teammates involved in the Sonic offense, Sedale Threatt (29) got off to a quick start. Johnson also played decoy on the perimeter, drawing Portland forward Jerome Kersey away from the lane, which in turn made it easier for Seattle to get the ball inside to center Benoit Benjamin, who scored 12 of his 26 points in the first quarter.

"It hurt me late in the game," said Johnson, who scored eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. "But it was obvious that we needed to spread our scoring around. We're a better team that way." -- Somehow, Trail Blazer fans got hold of the Sonics' fax number, and kept the machine buzzing all day yesterday with poems, drawings and strange photographs portending imminent playoff doom for the Sonics.

-- The Sonics decided to withhold tickets for sale at a computerized ticket outlet in the Portland area until 4 p.m. today in order to give local fans a better chance to get to tomorrow's game.

- Glenn Nelson and John Peoples