COMMENTARY : L.A. Looking a Lot Like Denver?

TACOMA, Wash. â€”  In a place where the townspeople still shudder at the words “Dikembe Mutombo,â€� Saturday brought new names for them to fear.

Cedric?

Vlade?

Elden?

How come nobody is named Bill or Bob any more? Why do the Seattle SuperSonics start to wobble every time they get in the playoffs? What was Nate McMillan doing in the game for that last shot? And after surrendering their home-court advantage, where are the SuperSonics going from here and will they need their parachutes?

Most of these questions will be answered in the next week as Cedric Ceballos, Vlade Divac, Elden Campbell and the rest of the Lakers, revived for at least a couple of days, try for another first-round knockout of the SuperSonics like the one Mutombo and the Nuggets hit them with last spring.

Denver, Denver, Denver. Every time the SuperSonics lose a game, it’s Denver this and Denver that, haunting them still.

“It’s around you,� Coach George Karl said, smiling and shaking his head, “but I don’t think we’re involved with it at all.

“I think we’re dealing with it very well.�

That’s one theory, anyway. At this point it would be nice to insert a comment from a Seattle star like Gary Payton or Shawn Kemp, but they no-showed in the locker room after the game, suggesting grace under pressure remains a challenge.

Payton hasn’t talked since the series started, and he went three for for 11 in Game 1. Saturday, he went seven for 19. However, he’s writing a guest column for the Seattle Times, so we do have some clue as to what’s on his mind. In Sunday’s installment, he discussed his friendship with local athletes Ken Griffey Jr. and Cortez Kennedy.

Wrote Payton: “I’m tight with Cortez Kennedy. He wants me to come to his games and he leaves me tickets. I want him to come to my games, so I leave him tickets.�

Tune in Monday for his next column, perhaps entitled, “Why I Wouldn’t Talk to Anyone From This Paper or Anywhere Else.�

Maybe it’s a character issue?

A year ago, after the SuperSonics ripped the Nuggets in Game 1, Payton and teammate Ricky Pierce got into a fight in the locker room at halftime of Game 2. Seattle won that game but no more.

Maybe it’s a basketball issue?

The SuperSonics have matchup problems. They’re supposed to press, create turnovers, run the floor and make pretty dunks, but if the Lakers’ low-post game works as it did Saturday, the game slows to a crawl and superior athleticism means nothing.

It was ironic that Campbell and Divac were posting up an old friend, Sam Perkins, among others, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Perkins remembers when he used to give Campbell tips. Look what he’s using the information for now.

“He stole my moves,� said Perkins, smiling. “I used to talk to him all the time. Elden’s a cool guy. We used to go at each other all the time. Because he can jump, I’d try to trick him and I pretty much could, all the time. But he’s improved.�

The Lakers have died 10,000 deaths waiting for Campbell to carry a good game over to the next game. Tune in Monday night to see which Elden shows up.

The game came down to a final SuperSonic possession. They posted up Payton, hoping for a pass to Kemp near the hoop or Schrempf or Perkins on the three-point line. Instead, they wound up with McMillan on the three-point line.

McMillan was a respectable 34% shooter on three-point shots during the regular season but zero for three in this series--and zero for four after he bricked this one.

“First of all, Nate is our best passer of the ball in-bounds,� Karl said. “I think he’s the best in the NBA. That’s the first priority in that situation.

“I’m happy with that shot.�

The Lakers were happy too, so what more can you ask? Two great teams (OK, two pretty good teams), a short series, a 1-1 tie, ghosts, ghostbusters and Gary Payton’s column too. I love this game.