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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sonics Notebook

Tacoma News Tribune

One bit of trouble that has leveled several teams around the league but has missed the Sonics this season has been injuries.

Until now.

Seattle went into the game Wednesday against Houston in the Summit with three players hobbled by various levels of injuries - the most serious of which is a swelling of the tissue around the arch area of Vince Askew’s left foot, called plantar fasciitis. Guard Nate McMillan has been increasingly bothered by a sore foot that has slowed him all season, and center-forward Sam Perkins came up with an irritated nerve in his right leg on this twogame trip to Texas.

Askew, an integral element off the bench in coach George Karl’s offensive and defensive schemes, will apparently miss at least a week and maybe as much as a month.”Nate and Sam aren’t so serious,” Karl said, “but they are the sorts of things you have be concerned about.”

Askew said the arch area of his foot had been sore for a couple of weeks, but he strained it somehow Tuesday in a loss at San Antonio.

“It was sore, crazy sore,” Askew said. “It’s a little better today, but it’s still sore. They told me it would be between a week and four weeks before I can get it going again, unless they give me a shot. But I’m just going to let it heal itself. I don’t want to mess it up any worse.

In Askew’s absence, Sarunas Marciulionis will move into his slot in the Sonics’ rotation and take an opportunity to impress Karl with his play. Karl has been displeased with Marciulionis defensively this season, but as of Wednesday Karl was running short of available options.

SuperSonics 104, Rockets 102

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 35 2-6 11-12 3-12 2 3 15 Schrempf 38 5-6 7-10 0-9 3 5 18 Cartwright 21 1-3 0-0 1-1 1 3 2 McMillan 35 3-5 1-2 1-7 6 2 7 Payton 37 7-16 4-4 0-0 6 2 19 Gill 24 5-9 0-0 0-2 1 2 12 Perkins 26 3-7 4-6 0-4 2 2 11 Marciulionis 24 7-11 4-5 1-3 2 2 20 Totals 240 33-63 31-39 6-38 23 21 104

Percentages: FG .524, FT .795.

3-Point Goals: 7-12, .583 (Gill 2-2, Marciulionis 2-2, Schrempf 1-1, Payton 1-3, Perkins 1-3, McMillan 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 6.

Blocked shots: 3 (McMillan 2, Payton).

Turnovers: 15 (Kemp 4, Payton 3, Scrempf 2, McMillan 2, Perkins 2, Marciulionis 2).

Steals: 11 (McMillan 6, Kemp 2, Payton 2, Cartwright).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 1:50 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb HOUSTON Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Drexler 39 9-14 3-3 1-5 6 3 22 Herrera 18 3-8 0-0 2-3 1 3 6 Olajuwon 38 9-17 3-4 2-8 4 4 21 Maxwell 41 5-19 3-4 0-1 4 3 18 Smith 25 3-7 3-3 0-1 5 2 12 Brown 24 4-6 0-1 1-8 2 3 8 Cassell 23 2-5 0-0 0-2 4 4 5 Chilcutt 13 2-2 0-0 2-4 1 1 4 Elie 18 2-3 1-1 0-2 1 3 6 Breaux 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 39-81 13-16 8-34 28 26 102

Percentages: FG .481, FT .813.

3-Point Goals: 11-31, .355 (Maxwell 5-15, Smith 3-6, Elie 1-2, Cassell 1-3, Drexler 1-5).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 5 (Drexler 2, Olajuwon 2, Elie).

Turnovers: 15 (Drexler 3, Olajuwon 2, Maxwell 2, Cassell 2, Chilcutt 2, Elie 2, Smith, Brown).

Steals: 6 (Olajuwon 2, Maxwell 2, Drexler, Smith).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None. Seattle 20 31 21 32 - 104 Houston 32 17 27 26 - 102

A-16,611 (16,311). T-2:17.

Officials-Hugh Evans, Ed Middleton, Hank Armstrong.