Sonics vs. Suns: A Rivalry
SEATTLE – The memory is an ugly one.
We’ll start with a number: 64. Most of you already know where this is headed. But, we’ll give you another hint: Free throws.
Yes, we’re talking about Game 7 of the 1993 Western Conference Finals. A game that Seattle fans are (rightfully) still upset about. A moment in Sonics history that will forever live in history.
Even though we’re talking about a game that happened almost 28 years ago (1993), it still stings.
The Sonics/Suns rivalry dates back to 1968, when the Suns (along with the Milwaukee Bucks) entered the league. Like the Sonics in Seattle, the Suns were Phoenix’s first professional sports team.
Seattle and Phoenix became a natural rivalry - two solid West Coast squads often in the Lakers’ shadow. The teams shared similar franchise arcs, with the two sides often competitive at the same time.
The Suns rose to national prominence in the mid-70’s, behind an excellent team that featured Alvin Adams, future Sonic Paul Westphal, and former Sonic Garfield Heard. The Sonics and Suns met in the 1976 Western Conference Semifinals, with Phoenix taking the series 4-2. The Suns went on to knock off Rick Barry and the Warriors before falling to Boston in the NBA Finals. Interestingly enough, the Suns were the first non-California “West Coast” team to make the NBA Finals (Portland and Seattle would soon follow).
During Seattle’s 1979 title run, the Sonics got their revenge on Phoenix, defeating them 4-3 in the Western Conference Finals. Despite the setback, the Suns remained a perennial playoff team, making the postseason 21 out of 24 times between 1978 and 2001. These included two memorable playoff series against the Sonics in the 90’s.
Fast-forward to 1993: the Suns featured league MVP Charles Barkley, lethal swingman Dan Majerle, point guard Kevin Johnson, former Sonic Tom Chambers, and aging sharpshooter Danny Ainge. At stake was a trip to play Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the Finals.
Phoenix was the favorite. After tearing through the regular season en route to a 62-20 record, it seemed like an inevitability that the Suns would beat the upstart Sonics, who were led by the young duo of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton and tough veterans Ricky Pierce and Eddie Johnson. The team also featured Nate McMillan, Sam Perkins and Dana Barros.
The Sonics and Suns traded wins for six games. Ricky Pierce came up huge in Game 2 (34 points) and Game 6 (27 points) - both wins for Seattle.
Enter Game 7 - and 64 free throws for Phoenix. If you ask ANY Sonics player about that infamous Game 7, they’ll tell you that there was an agenda behind the game. The prevailing theory among those at the game is that the NBA wanted a Barkley/Jordan Finals matchup - and stacked the deck accordingly.
Johnson, Kemp and McMillan fouled out in the game. Phoenix’s 64 free throw attempts were almost twice as many as Seattle’s 36. It wasn’t just a volume discrepancy - the timing and circumstance of the whistles that went Phoenix’s way were eyebrow-raising.
The Sonics were able to exact a bit of revenge in the 1997 playoffs - the last playoff series that Payton and Kemp won as a duo. Barkley and Majerle were gone, but the Suns were talented. Jason Kidd was a rising superstar and Rex Chapman was at the peak of his powers. Despite heroics from Chapman (42 points in Game 1 and an overtime-forcing 3-pointer in Game 4), the Sonics advanced in 5 games.
When you add up all the memories, the Suns were a rival Seattle fans just didn’t much care for. And when the Sonics return, you can expect the Northwest/Southwest rivalry to return as well.