WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL : SuperSonics’ Defense to Test Suns’ Range

Welcome to the West, the NBA undercard.

In a land far, far away from the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks, the Phoenix Suns, the league’s winningest team lest anyone has forgotten, prepare for their next challenge, the Western Conference finals.

“I would rather play the Mavericks, if you want to be honest,” the Suns’ Charles Barkley said.

Instead, they will play the Seattle SuperSonics in a best-of-seven matchup that will start tonight at America West Arena.

The SuperSonics won three of five from the Suns during the regular season, although one of the victories came when Barkley was sidelined because of a mild shoulder injury.

The SuperSonics have the kind of height advantage that can cause the Suns problems, along with a trapping, pressure defense that causes trouble for most anyone.

“They play a different kind of basketball than anybody else in the league,” Phoenix’s Danny Ainge said. “There are no secrets. We just have to be ready to attack it.”

But the Suns have Barkley and the home-court advantage.

“They’re a team that can make us pay with our type of defense,” Seattle’s Nate McMillan said after the SuperSonics beat Houston on Saturday to advance.

“We do a lot of trapping, switching, double-teaming, and with their shooters--(Dan) Majerle and Danny (Ainge)--and (Kevin Johnson’s) penetration, you can get hurt that way.

“They’re a team that lives and dies by the three-pointer. If they miss five or six, they’re going to take five or six more.”

That’s where Majerle needs to get on track. He is shooting only 39.9% overall and 30.4% on three-pointers during the playoffs. He finished tied with the Indiana Pacers’ Reggie Miller for most three-pointers during the regular season, but opened one of 11 against the Lakers before going 16 of 45 over the nine games since.

Seattle will be making its first appearance in the conference finals since 1986-87.

The Suns are a step away from the championship series for the third time in five years.