Blazers finish Wolves
■The Blazers earn a couple of days
off by winningan emotional Game4
over the Timerwolves, 85-77
By Arnie Stapleton
The Association Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Steve Smith got mad,
then he kept the Minnesota Timberwolves
from getting even.
Smith hit a key 3-pointer minutes after
drawing a technical for tangling with An
thony Peeler, and the Portland Trail Blaz
ers went on to eliminate the Wolves from
the NBA playoffs with an 85-77 victory
Tuesday night.
“I thought if I hit that one, it would really
take the life out of them,” Smith said.
And it did.
The Blazers won the hest-of-five series 3
1 and advanced to face the Utah-Seattle
winner. The Jazz lead that series 2-1 with
Game 4 Wednesday night in Seattle.
Minnesota failed to reach the second
round for the fourth straight season. Blame
the Wolves’ starters, who shot just 35 per
cent from the floor.
Smith and Peeler confronted each other
with 5:07 left and the Wolves clinging to a
73-72 lead. Smith fell down after taking a
long jumper, and Peeler, angered at having
caught an elbow on the play, walked over
him slowly. The two jawed at each other
and drew double-technical fouls.
A minute later, Smith was called for a
foul on Peeler, and Smith stared him down
again. Blazers Coach Mike Dunleavy took
Smith out briefly.
“I didn’t want his emotions to get away
from him,” Dunleavy said.
Smith, who rarely gets rankled, said he
just couldn’t help confronting Peeler.
“I don’t want anybody to step on me
when I’m down,” he said. “But that’s over. I
don’t want to get into that. It was the heat
of the moment. It’s a playoff game. It’s
over.”
And so is Minnesota’s season, thanks to
Smith.
After the gamd, Smith and Peeler put the
dispute behind them, shaking hands as
they walked off the court.
“We’re tight,” Peeler said. “We’re
friends.”
The Blazers trailed 75-74 before Smith’s
3-pointer with 3:45 left, and the Wolves
never regained the lead.
Scottie Pippen (11 points) penetrated
and dished off to Smith, who finished with
14 points, one fewer than Rasheed Wallace
and Arvydas Sabonis.
“Pippen really helped me. He drew two
defenders, and I was wide open,” Smith
said.
After Brian Grant’s basket gave Portland
a 79-75 lead, Terrell Brandon’s layup made
it 79-77 with just under a minute left.
Wallace banked in a jumper from the top
of the circle with 32 seconds left, barely
beating the buzzer and giving Portland a
four-point lead. His two free throws 12 sec
onds later iced it.
Kevin Garnett, who nearly recorded his
third triple-double of the series, finishing
with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine as
sists, said Smith’s three and Wallace’s
buzzer beater were dual daggers.
“Those are like pins in your back, thorns
in your arms,” Garnett said. “Everything
you have in you, it takes it out of you.”
Greg Anthony capped the scoring with
two free throws. It was the first time in eight
games between the teams this season that the
final margin was bigger than seven points.
The Timberwolves, who blew a 13-point
lead, again got inspired play from their re
serves. This time, Bobby Jackson, who did
n’t play at all in Game 3, scored 11 points,
and the Wolves outscored the Blazers by 13
points when he was in the game.
Notes: The Wolves missed 12 of their
first 17 shots, yet still managed to hold the
halftime lead for the third straight game.
They trailed by a point at the break in
Game 1. ... After tying an NBA playoff
record by combining fQr just 13 turnovers
on Sunday, the teams eclipsed that with six
minutes left in the first half.... The Blazers
signed a game ball afterward for assistant
Bill Musselman, a former Timberwolves
coach who is hospitalized in Rochester
with cancer. “We want to dedicate this
whole series and this win to him,” Pippen
said.
Sacramento evens series
■The Lakers are one loss away from
elimination as Chris Webber and the
Kings’ reserves spark a decisive
Game 4 victory, 101-88
By Rob Gloster
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Los Ange
les Lakers were beaten by a bunch of re
serves named Jon, Tony and Predrag, and
the NBA’s best team this season suddenly
was one loss from first-round playoff elim
ination.
Chris Webber had 23 points, 13 re
bounds, eight assists and seven blocks, and
the Sacramento reserves provided the de
cisive spark for the second straight game as
the Kings defeated the Lakers 101-88 Tues
day night to even their series at 2-2.
The fifth and deciding game will be Fri
day night in Los Angeles, where the Lakers
won the first two games of the series by
comfortable margins. The Lakers, who
went an NBA-best 67-15 this season, did
not lose three straight games all year.
The winner of the series will face the
Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference
semifinals. Phoenix dethroned the San An
tonio Spurs, wrapping up their series 3-1
with an 89-78 victory Tuesday night.
Kobe Bryant had 32 points for the Lak
ers, who never led in the game and got no
closer than six points in the fourth quarter.
Shaquille O’Neal added 25, but strug
gled with his shooting touch for the second
straight game. He went 10-of-22 from the
field and missed seven of 12 foul shots.
Jon Barry had 17 points, Tony Delk had
12 and Predrag Stojakovic 11 as the Sacra
mento backups outscored the Lakers’ re
serves 42-8.
' Thfe Kings went 9-for-21 from 3-point
range, compared to 3-for-17 by the Lakers.
Sacramento is trying to become the 13th
team to rally and win a series after trailing
2-0. No team has accomplished that feat
since the Houston Rockets in 1995.
The Kings led 56-45 at halftime. They
extended their lead to 68-56 with 3:18 left
in the third period, seconds after Bryant
and Divac were assessed technicals for a
skirmish under the Los Angeles basket.
O’Neal committed his third foul on a
charge, knocking Divac to the floor, and Di
vac hit a short jumper at the other end to
make it 72-59 with 1:30 left in the quarter.
The Lakers finished the period with a 7-1
run, though, and trailed just 73-66 going
into the fourth period.
Sacramento extended its margin to 12
points when Delk’s bucket with 8:19 left
made it 82-70. Bryant had three baskets as
the Lakers used an 8-2 run to close to 84
78, but Barry hit a 3-pointer with 5:19 re
maining and Webber followed with a steal
and dunk to give the Kings an 89-78 lead.
Los Angeles never got closer than eight
points after that, and Barry ran along the
sideline giving fans high-fives in the clos
ing minute.
The Lakers missed eight of their first
nine shots and fell behind 9-2 in jet-engine
loud Arco Arena. Los Angeles made just
three of its first 16 shots, falling behind by
as many as 11 points and trailing 27-18 af
ter one period.
Los Angeles closed to 46-43 with 2 1/2
minutes remaining before halftime, but
Nick Anderson and Barry hit consecutive
3-pointers as the Kings closed the half with
a 10-2 run capped by Webber’s hook with
eight-tenths of a second left.
Notes: Kings assistant coach Pete Carril
was released from Sutter Memorial Hospi
tal, three days after having ajninor heart at
tack, and planned to watch Game 4 at
home on TV. ... O’Neal and Bryant each
scored 90 points in the first three games of
the series.... Kings reserve forward Tyrone
Corbin missed the game with a sprained
left ankle.... Rick Fox was with the Lakers
a day after the birth of his daughter and
played five minutes in the fourth quarter.
... Jason Williams struggled for the second
straight game for the Kings, going l-for-8
from the field.
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