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2 R REACHTHEEDITORS : Paul Barrett , Sports Editor 206-464-2093 pbarrett@seattletimes.com | Alex Iniguez , Assistant Sports Editor ainiguez@seattletimes.com | Sean Quinton , Assistant Sports Editor squinton@seattletimes.com By BOB CONDOTTA / Seattle Times staff reporter F orty years ago in Landover, Md., the Seattle SuperSonics were crowned NBA champions for the first and only time in their history. But they truly revealed themselves as a championship team in a do-or-die game weeks earlier in Phoenix. shots in NBA history to that point — a 20-footer as time ran out to force over- time in Game 5 of the 1976 Finals — something that was on the mind of every Sonic as they watched the final play un- fold. “We all remembered Gar Heard hitting an impossible shot against the Celtics,’’ saidWallyWalker, a reserve forward on that teamwho, the next day, was among the players featured on the front page of The Seattle Times watching pensively as the ball sailed through the air. “We were all thinking it when we saw him catch it and release it.’’ This time, Heard— a 6-foot-6 forward who began his career with the Sonics in 1970— fired from about 16 feet and hit nothing but air. As the horn sounded, the Sonics had pulled out a win that forced a Game 7 and continued their championship season. While it’s since been overshadowed by memories of the NBA Finals victory over Washington, and is virtually impossible to find on YouTube, that forgotten game See > SONICS, C8 MA T T MC V A Y / T H E S E A T T L E T I ME S , 1 9 7 9 SONICS GUARD GUS WILLIAMS gets the ball during Game 6 of the Western Conference finals on May 13, 1979. The Sonics went on to win, 106-105. It was a key win for the Sonics, who almost saw their goal of an NBA championship come to an end during that series. “It’s a basket here or a basket there and history changes,’’ said Jack Sikma, recall- ing aMother’s Day Sunday at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum four de- cades ago this weekend—May 13, 1979. That championship was in the hands of the Suns’ Garfield Heard with one second remaining in a one-point game. Heard had already hit one of the most famous THE 40 years later ... An inside look back at the Mother’s Day drama that kept the 1979 Sonics’ NBA title hopes alive FORGOTTEN VICTORY G A M E 6 , M A Y 1 3 , 1 9 7 9 , S E A T T L E A T P H O E N I X Blazers’ playoff run permeated by spirit of Allen C R A I G M I T C H E L L D Y E R / T H E A S S O C I A T E D P R E S S The seat for Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, who passed away Oct. 15, has a rose and a hat placed on it before a game shortly after his death. NBA PLAYOF F S | Memories of the “Jail Blazers” are mostly forgotten now as Portland’s passionate fans have reconnected with their basketball team. By GEOFF BAKER Seattle Times staff reporter PORTLAND—One of the loudest crowd roars from a wild, series-evening Game 6 victo- ry that prolonged Portland’s storybook NBA season happened during a fourth-quarter time- out call. The Trail Blazers had just taken their biggest lead of Thursday night’s clash and the Moda Center scoreboard cameras panned toward injured center Jusuf Nurkic, standing courtside in a powder blue suit after his gruesome, season-ending leg fractures suffered inMarch. The cheers quickly grew deafening as the 7-foot, 280-pound Bosnian hoisted his arms triumphantly toward the sky, the cameras soon after catching a Blazers fan waving a sign that read: “For Nurk, for Paul, let’s win it all.’’ See > BLAZERS, C7 SUNDAY Game 7, Portland @Denver, 12:30 p.m., Ch. 4 ON THE WEB | Fan Fix newsletter: Get the latest Seattle sports news, daily in your email inbox st.news /getfanfix Hernandez shelled as Mariners fall apart RED SOX 9, MARINERS 5 Pitcher can’t escape from eight-run third inning NBA PLAYOFFS JUST BETTER WITHOUT DURANT Matt Calkins Seattle Times columnist If couches had feelings, I would have gone to jail for assault. The date was May 28, 2016, and theWarriors were playing the Thunder in Game 6 of theWestern Conference Finals. A fewmonths earlier, my love affair with Golden State had officially commenced. The Dubs were an organical- ly produced super team that had revolutionized basketball. They had a 6-foot-3 wizard in Stephen Curry who hadmor- phed into the league’s best player. Nothing about themwas manufactured. Everything about themwas exhilarating. So when it looked as if OKC might knock themout of the playoffs, my newly purchased piece of furniture took a beat- ing with every shot. If you don’t remember, that was the game in which Klay Thompson hit 10 three-point- ers to lead theWarriors back from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter. They’d go on to win Game 7 before falling See > CALKINS, C9 ON THE WEB Late Sounders match Last night’s Sounders match against Houston ended after this edition went to press. Find full coverage at seattletimes.com /sports By RYAN DIVISH Seattle Times staff reporter BOSTON – For about two innings, it looked as though victory seemed possible if not plausible. The Mariners deliv- ered a four-run punch to Bos- ton starter Rick Porcello in the top of the first and figured to get more over the next eight innings, while their starter Felix Hernandez put up an easy 1-2-3 first inning and worked his way out of what could’ve been a calami- tous second inning. But this isn’t the same Boston team the Mariners faced early in the season. That version of the Red Sox was a disjointed mess that seemed to have skipped spring training due to an incurableWorld Series hangover. This current version of the Red Sox is starting to resemble the run-scoring jug- gernaut of 2018. And Hernandez? Well, his escape act ended in disaster in an eight-run third inning that there was no recov- ery from for an offense that would only muster one more run the rest of the game. A day after falling under .500 See > MARINERS, C6 SUNDAY Mariners @ Boston, 10:05 a.m., ROOT Sports seattletimes.com/sports | MAY 12, 2019 | SUNDAY B SPORTS STORM COMING Zellous says team can still contend without Stewart C3