Rockets Survive SuperSonic Scare

HOUSTON —  The Houston Rockets rode their all-star trio of Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Clyde Drexler into the Western Conference finals with a 96-91 Game 7 win over the Seattle SuperSonics on Saturday.

Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler scored all but six of Houston’s points in the second half, when the Rockets surged to a 14-point lead and held off a furious rally by the defending conference champions down the stretch.

Drexler scored eight of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. Olajuwon had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Barkley--who guaranteed a victory after consecutive Houston losses--contributed 20 points and 14 rebounds.

The Rockets took control by holding the SuperSonics without a point for nearly six minutes of the second half.

Matt Maloney scored 15 points for the Rockets, who will face the Utah Jazz in the conference finals beginning Monday. Houston defeated Seattle for the first time in six playoff series.

“It was a great team effort,” Barkley said. “They have a terrific team. Everyone wanted to say bad things about us, but they were terrific to come back from three games to one. If you can’t win a Game 7 at Houston it would mean they are just better than you.”

Gary Payton scored 27 points and forward Shawn Kemp had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the SuperSonics, who lost an elimination game for the first time in five tries. Seattle was trying to become the sixth team in playoff history to win a series after trailing 3-1.

“We got too far back and couldn’t catch them,” Kemp said. “I went cold in the second half. I still think we are better, but give them credit. We could have beaten Chicago if we got back to the finals.”

Chicago beat Seattle in the NBA finals last June.

“We just got our guys to pick them up in the backcourt,” said Houston Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, whose teams improved to 11-2 in playoff elimination games. “We made it a war. We didn’t let them get in their comfort zone. Defense is always the key. Right from the first jump ball we were very focused.”

The SuperSonics had only one basket in the first eight minutes of the final quarter and appeared done after Olajuwon’s follow dunk with 3:52 remaining gave the Rockets an 88-74 lead.

But Seattle went to a trap and made a final charge. Two baskets by Hersey Hawkins around a steal cut the deficit to 10 points and Maloney missed two free throws with 3:05 to play. Detlef Schrempf made a three-pointer and Hawkins had a steal and layup, pulling the SuperSonics to within five at 88-83 with 2:40 left.

Drexler split two foul shots and Kemp was fouled as he scored on a drive. His free throw made the score 89-86 with 1:33 remaining, but Maloney made a three-pointer--his only points of the second half--16 seconds later.

Two free throws by Payton and an inside basket by Schrempf cut Houston’s lead to 92-90 with 21 seconds left. Again, Drexler missed one of two foul shots and Terry Cummings made one of two free throws for Seattle.

Seattle got one more chance when Drexler again missed one of two free throws. But Kemp missed an off-balance three-pointer from the left corner and Schrempf lost the rebound out of bounds.

“It was a pass thing,” Payton said. “The play just broke up. When we made the run in the fourth quarter, we switched to a smaller lineup. I think we should have done that earlier in the game. It was a coaching decision.”

Top-seeded Utah is next for the Rockets.

“I told our guys to enjoy this day,” Barkley said. “It’s going to be a war.”