Sabonis May Be Key For Blazers

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Scottie Pippen has hurt the Minnesota  
Timberwolves with his quick moves to the basket, timely jump 
shooting and punishing defense. 
 
Yet the Portland Trail Blazers will be counting on the more  
reliable, even plodding style of center Arvydas Sabonis when they 
try to eliminate the Timberwolves in Game 3 on Sunday. 
 
Sabonis scored 19 points Wednesday night as the Trail Blazers  
built a big fourth-quarter lead and withstood a late charge to win 
86-82 and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Sabonis had 
missed his first six shots and scored just five points in Sunday's 
91-88 Game 1 victory. 
 
``Arvydas was the difference in the game,'' teammate Greg  
Anthony said of Wednesday's performance. 
 
At 7-foot-3 and 292 pounds, the 35-year-old Sabonis looks like a  
giant compared with the 7-foot, 250-pound Nesterovic. But the 
23-year-old from the former Yugoslav province of Slovenia has hung 
in there. He hit both of his shots in the fourth quarter Wednesday 
night, and had two big blocks -- on a layup try by Sabonis and a 
dunk attempt by Wallace that helped the Timberwolves stay close in 
the final two minutes. 
 
``He's a good player,'' Sabonis said of Nesterovic. ``He's  
young, but for his time in the playoffs, I think he plays good 
defense. He causes me problems.'' 
 
It's hard to imagine now, but when Sabonis was drafted by the  
Blazers in 1986, he was booed by fans at the team's draft party at 
Memorial Coliseum. Sabonis was an unknown commodity in this 
country. And Walter Berry, the college player of the year that 
season out of St. John's, got all the cheers as the other Portland 
first-round pick. 
 
Berry played just seven games before he was traded to San  
Antonio for Kevin Duckworth, and Berry has been out of the league 
since the 1990-91 season. Sabonis, in his fifth NBA season after 
years of success in Europe, is still around, lumbering up the court 
and playing a pivotal role in the Blazers' quest for their first 
title since 1977. 
 
Scottie Pippen has been the undisputed star of the playoffs for  
Portland, averaging 24.5 points in the two games -- nearly twice his 
season average of 12.5. After his season-high 28 points in Game 1, 
Pippen came back with 21 Wednesday night. During the regular 
season, he scored at least 21 points only six times, and just twice 
in the last 29 games. 
 
But the offense starts with Sabonis, who can bull inside and  
draw a foul, put up a soft hook shot, pass the ball deftly out of 
traffic or, when he's away from the basket, knock down a perimeter 
shot. 
 
``He's so big that he gets double-teams,'' Portland guard Steve  
Smith said. ``He passes so well, he causes so many problems. When 
he misses the shot, he usually is standing right there to tip it 
back in.'' 
 
Sabonis also might be helped more than anybody by the long  
layoffs between games. He wears black sleeves on his creaky knees, 
and his agility was further slowed by a right foot sprain that 
knocked him out of 10 games late in the season. 
 
Sabonis struggled in the fourth quarter of Game 1, when the  
Blazers started out with a nine-point lead but let the Timberwolves 
back in the game. Sabonis missed his first four shots, all under 
the basket, before hitting an 18-foot jumper that put the Blazers 
ahead 81-77 with 1:45 left. 
 
``You must always be alert,'' Nesterovic said. ``What is he  
going to do? You have to focus on trying to take away his 
strengths, but he can shoot from the outside and he's good around 
the basket. I just try to stay focused and stay in front of him 
wherever he wants to go.''