As Kemp Stays Hot, Sonics Win Seattle Trounces Boston For Third Straight Victory

Nate McMillan thinks that if Shawn Kemp can maintain his current level of play, the Seattle SuperSonics have a real shot at winning an NBA championship.

“He has that intense look in his eyes,” said McMillan, the Sonics’ co-captain. “He’s playing with fire, and his rebounding, scoring and passing lifts the entire team up.”

In Sonics victories over the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons and Celtics, Kemp has averaged 22.6 points and 15.3 rebounds per game.

He scored 21 points in 26 minutes, grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked six shots and had three steals as the Sonics won their third straight game, 113-93 over Boston.

“I told him in New York that if he can keep playing like this, we have a real shot,” McMillan said.

Kemp didn’t start the game against the Boston Celtics because he skipped the team’s shootaround earlier in the day. Once he got into the game, the 6-foot-10 All-Star forward took over.

Sonics coach George Karl said Kemp didn’t start because he had an unexcused absence.

“The policy is, if you’re sick you come to practice early and be excused or you go to the doctor,” Karl said. “It’s a simple policy, and he didn’t follow it.”

Kemp wasn’t talking after the game, but McMillan stressed how important it is that the Sonics power forward plays well.

“When he has the focus of recent games, I know we’re not going to win. We’re going to bust teams,” he said.

The Sonics have won the past three games by margins of 12, 40 and 20 points.

Even though Seattle was without starting shooting guard Kendall Gill, out with a bruised right rib, the team didn’t miss a beat.

McMillan filled in with eight points, nine assists and five rebounds.

Point guard Gary Payton played only 20 minutes and scored 17 points and had eight assists before he was called for two technical fouls by official Bernie Fryer and ejected with 9:42 left in the third quarter.

Detlef Schrempf carried the Sonics to a 71-45 halftime lead. He scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half. Schrempf started the night as the NBA’s most accurate 3-point shooter and made four of six 3-point shots.

The Sonics’ biggest lead was 69-39 late in the first half.

Sam Perkins scored 14 of his 19 points in the third quarter as the Sonics built a 97-71 lead after three quarters.

The Celtics lost their fifth straight game and got their four-game Western road trip off to a rocky start.

Sherman Douglas led the Celtics with 28 points on 9-for-24 shooting. Dee Brown added 24 points.

Celtics coach Chris Ford said the Sonics’ aggressive defense set the tone early in the game and his team never recovered.

“We caved in to their traps and aggressive play instead of stepping up and accepting the challenge,” he said.

SuperSonics 113, Celtics 93

FG FT Reb BOSTON Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts McDaniel 28 2-11 0-0 2-8 7 2 4 Radja 15 1-6 0-1 0-2 0 2 2 Montross 24 5-5 0-3 2-4 0 0 10 Brown 46 8-21 5-7 4-6 1 4 24 Douglas 42 9-24 9-14 4-7 5 4 28 Wilkins 7 1-2 1-3 2-2 0 1 4 Strong 9 0-2 0-0 1-1 1 2 0 Blackwell 4 1-1 0-1 0-1 0 0 2 Ellison 20 2-4 5-6 2-6 0 6 9 Minor 28 4-14 2-2 4-6 2 3 10 Earl 17 0-8 0-0 1-6 0 2 0 Totals 240 33-98 22-37 22-49 16 26 93

Percentages: FG .337, FT .595.

3-Point Goals: 5-12, .417 (Brown 3-8, Wilkins 1-1, Douglas 1-3).

Team Rebounds: 21.

Blocked shots: 6 (Montross 2, Brown 2, Radja, Minor).

Turnovers: 23 (Brown 5, Ellison 4, McDaniel 2, Douglas 2, Strong 2, Radja, Montross, Wilkins, Blackwell, Minor, team 3).

Steals: 10 (Brown 4, Douglas 2, Strong, Blackwell, Minor, Earl).

Technical fouls: Douglas, 4:37 first; McDaniel, 4:37 first.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Perkins 29 6-9 5-6 1-5 1 4 19 Schrempf 24 8-12 3-4 2-4 5 2 23 Cartwright 12 0-2 0-0 0-3 0 2 0 McMillan 33 3-8 0-0 1-5 9 4 8 Payton 20 8-14 0-0 3-4 8 1 17 Kemp 26 8-11 5-9 2-11 3 4 21 Marciulionis 30 4-9 4-4 0-1 0 3 12 Askew 27 1-7 3-6 1-2 3 0 5 Johnson 15 1-4 0-0 1-4 0 2 2 Houston 14 1-4 0-0 2-3 0 1 2 Scheffler 10 2-2 0-0 0-5 0 1 4 Totals 240 42-82 20-29 13-47 29 24 113

Percentages: FG .512, FT .690.

3-Point Goals: 9-19, .474 (Schrempf 4-6, McMillan 2-4, Perkins 2-4, Payton 1-3, Askew 0-1, Houston 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 12.

Blocked shots: 14 (Kemp 6, Johnson 3, Perkins, Schrempf, Cartwright, Askew, McMillan).

Turnovers: 22 (Marciulionis 5, McMillan 3, Payton 3, Kemp 3, Perkins 2, Schrempf 2, Askew 2, Johnson, Houston).

Steals: 10 (Marciulionis 4, Payton 3, Kemp 3).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 8:39 second; Marciulionis, 6:22 second; illegal defense, 10:57 third; Payton 2, 9:42 third; Schrempf, 8:00 third; illegal defense, 8:28 fourth.

Ejection: Payton, 9:42 third.

Illegal defense: 1. Boston 25 20 26 22 - 93 Seattle 35 36 26 16 - 113

A-16,296 (16,296). T-2:12.

Officials-Bill Oakes, Bernie Fryer, Ted Bernhardt.