Whatever Happens, It'll Be Washington

By himself, Dandridge did his back-to-normal Picasso act all over Johnson's face, backing in, turning and firing for 34 points. More Bullet muscle was supplied by Henderson, a stocky playmaker who mostly drove for 20 points and contributed some stiff defense on Brown.

Having figured a way to liberate Hayes from Silas' close guarding (by beating up on the Sonics' grandpa), Motta announced, "That's our game, Hayes and Dandridge going off tackle. People know where we're going. They're just going to have to stop us."

Which is what the Sonics did in the fourth quarter on Sunday. Dandridge scored one point in the last 14:10 of the game while Silas took personal care of the Silent E.

"I don't notice anything Silas does," said Kupchak, "until I turn around and he has a rebound or a tip, and Elvin isn't anywhere near the ball."

As the series returned to Seattle—where a pro record crowd of 44,000 was expected to witness Game 4 in the King-dome—all the Bullets were noticing Silas, even the librarians and house painters—er, artists.