Thunder Dan Strikes Deep -- Majerle's 3-Point Bolts Stun Sonics

PHOENIX - When Dan Majerle stared out into 30 feet worth of wide-open space, he saw Seattle's Derrick McKey and his condor-like wingspan, then glanced at the shot clock, which was melting down to four seconds.

Undeterred by the distance, wary of the SuperSonic forward and responsive to the shot clock, Majerle squared up and fired. McKey was so shocked, he didn't even lift a hand in defense. When the shot ripped through the net, Majerle turned and grinned to high heaven, so hooked was he on the feeling.

That shot gave Majerle an NBA playoff record-tying seven three-pointers, and he wasn't done. His long-distance connection was so clear, the Phoenix Suns dialed up a 120-114 victory to put them up 3-2 in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.

"I wasn't surprised," Sonic-turned-Sun Tom Chambers said of Majerle's long three. "Dan hits flat-footed shots from midcourt all the time in practice. He's always reminding us, `I've got crazy range, I've got crazy range.' "

It doesn't get much crazier than last night.

We all know the rule about lightning. No one ever said anything about thunder striking the same place more than once. The Sonics took eight claps from a guy known around here as Thunder Dan. Eight rock-your-world shots. Eight jolts to the system. An NBA record.

"Almost nobody can make eight out of 10 in a gym by themselves," Phoenix Coach Paul Westphal said.

But Majerle made his in front of 19,023 at the America West Arena and a national television audience. And his barrier-breaker, the one that allowed him to surpass Chuck Person in the record books, probably had the biggest influence on the outcome of the contest.

The Sonics had just risen off the mat, like a punch-drunk boxer, for the umpteenth time in the game. Taking advantage of four straight Sun turnovers, they had hacked a 111-102 deficit to 111-110 on Shawn Kemp's baseline jumper with 34.5 seconds to play. Pressing furiously at the defensive end, the Sonics had their hopes all but deflated by Majerle's last three-pointer with 20.7 seconds remaining.

The shot boosted the Phoenix lead to 114-110, and Majerle's offensive output to a career playoff-high 34 points.

"You don't like to get beat by threes, especially by a guy who can make them," Sonic Coach George Karl said. "He was making them in a zone I'm not sure we can defend.

"Majerle played 47 minutes and I thought, with fatigue, he would miss some. I was wrong."

Karl also was wrong about allowing his team to cruise at a pace to which the Suns are more accustomed. He felt his club was "energized" enough, and the fast tempo helped serve up 33 points for Kemp (19 in the fourth quarter), 27 for Ricky Pierce and 20 for Gary Payton. It also helped the Sonics shoot 53.7 percent, albeit to the Suns' 54.3.

But it did zilch to break down the Suns, who are the fastest guns not only in the West but in the entire NBA.

And, unfortunately for Seattle, Charles Barkley proved as indefatigable as his three-point-shooting teammate.

Saying, "You can rest when you die," Barkley refused all of Westphal's offers for repose and played 47 minutes as equally thunderous as Majerle's. Barkley earned his third career triple-double in the playoffs by posting 43 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. His 24-point, eight-rebound, six-assist first half essentially served as an all-points bulletin to Sonic defenders to be on the lookout for a rampaging league MVP in the lane.

"Once I start being real aggressive," said Barkley, whose team pummeled the Sonics 42-25 in rebounding, "they (Seattle) really start to scramble."

No better rejoinder to a gambling, scrambling defense than a wide-open three-pointer. So preoccupied were they with Barkley inside, and so diligent in their defensive shifts, the Sonics constantly yielded Majerle wide-open shots.

The results, if not devastating, were at least unnerving.

"In a sense, you want a guy taking shots like that," Seattle's Nate McMillan said. "The shots Majerle took were not high-percentage shots at all. If he misses, he's in the doghouse."

Instead, Majerle and the Suns are in the catbird seat.

----------------------------------------. Double. trouble. . BARKLEY. . FG FT Reb. Ast. Pts. . 16-22 11-11 15 10 43 # . . MAJERLE. . FG 3-pt. FT Ast. Pts. . 12-17 8-10 # # 2-2 4 34. .

# Career playoff high. .

# # NBA playoff record for three-pointers made.