Hawkins Finds The Range Scores Season-High 16 Points As Sonics Hammer Vancouver
Hersey Hawkins, who hadn’t had much success as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics, broke out of his shooting slump simply by shooting more.
Hawkins took 13 shots Saturday night and made six, finishing with 16 points, his best scoring effort since being traded from Charlotte for Kendall Gill during the off-season. He hit 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
With all 11 players scoring, the Seattle SuperSonics remained unbeaten at Key Arena with a 117-81 romp over the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies in their first regular-season meeting.
“It was just a matter of getting more shots up,” Hawkins said. “I didn’t line-drive the ball up. I got more of an arc on my shot and got a few breaks.”
Shawn Kemp led the Sonics with 24 points. The three-time All-Star also had eight rebounds and six assists.
Sonics coach George Karl said he’s happy with Hawkins’ overall game and not concerned about his shooting percentage, which was 38 coming into the game.
“He’s doing other things very well. I don’t think I could ask a guard to work harder on defense than he is,” Karl said.
The Sonics have been hurt by inconsistent outside shooting in first-round playoff eliminations the last two seasons. They hoped to answer that need with the addition of Hawkins, a proven outside shooter.
Karl said he expects to see Hawkins gradually regain his touch as he gets used to his new teammates.
“I don’t expect one big breakthrough game for Hawk,” Karl said. “I think gradually his shooting will come around.”
In exhibition play, the Grizzlies beat the Sonics. For their first regular-season meeting, the Sonics were ready.
“It probably helped our preparation losing that exhibition game,” Karl said. “That was probably the most aggressive we’ve played and Gary (Payton) had a great first half,” Karl said.
Payton scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half as the Sonics raced to a 35-18 lead after one quarter. They used a 17-4 blitz over the last 7 minutes of the first half for a 61-37 lead.
The Grizzlies came no closer than 79-59 during the second half.
Kemp led the Sonics with six of their 26 assists. Their crisp passing led to a season-best 54 percent shooting from the field (43 of 80).
Detlef Schrempf added 17 points.
Former Sonics center Benoit Benjamin led the Grizzlies with 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
SuperSonics 117, Grizzlies 81
FG FT Reb
VANCOUVER Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Gattison 23 2-6 3-6 0-1 0 4 7
King 29 5-9 1-3 3-4 1 3 11
Benjamin 29 6-15 2-2 3-8 1 2 14
Anthony 26 3-6 4-7 1-3 3 4 10
Edwards 26 4-9 2-2 1-7 1 1 10
Martin 21 2-6 0-0 1-2 1 0 4
Scott 21 3-7 3-3 0-0 1 1 9
Harvey 18 2-9 1-2 4-5 0 3 5
Avent 22 0-5 0-0 2-7 0 4 0
Moten 9 4-6 1-2 0-0 0 1 9
Reeves 10 1-5 0-0 1-2 0 2 2
Amaya 6 0-3 0-0 2-3 1 1 0
Totals 240 32-86 17-27 18-42 9 26 81
Percentages: FG .372, FT .630.
3-Point Goals: 0-8, .000 (Scott 0-4, Anthony 0-1, Martin 0-1, Harvey 0-1, Moten 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 11.
Blocked shots: 3 (Benjamin 2, Edwards).
Turnovers: 15 (King 4, Benjamin 3, Gattison 2, Anthony, Edwards, Scott, Avent, Reeves, Team).
Steals: 6 (Anthony 3, Martin, Harvey, Moten).
Technical fouls: None.
Illegal defense: None.
FG FT Reb
SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Kemp 31 9-12 6-9 2-8 6 0 24
Schrempf 28 7-11 0-1 1-7 5 1 17
Johnson 21 2-4 3-4 3-11 2 3 7
Hawkins 35 6-13 0-0 0-3 2 6 16
Payton 31 7-13 2-3 0-2 4 1 17
Perkins 18 4-6 1-2 1-5 1 2 9
Snow 24 2-6 3-4 0-2 3 4 7
Ford 11 2-6 2-2 2-4 1 0 6
Brickowski 16 1-2 1-2 0-5 1 1 3
Wingate 16 2-4 5-6 1-1 1 0 9
Scheffler 9 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 2
Totals 240 43-80 23-33 10-49 26 18 117
Percentages: FG .538, FT .697.
3-Point Goals: 8-17, .471 (Hawkins 4-6, Schrempf 3-3, Payton 1-3, Perkins 0-1, Ford 0-3).
Team Rebounds: 9.
Blocked shots: 5 (Kemp 3, Payton, Scheffler).
Turnovers: 12 (Payton 3, Kemp 2, Perkins 2, Snow 2, Brickowski, Wingate, Team).
Steals: 8 (Payton 4, Kemp 2, Johnson, Scheffler).
Technical fouls: Kemp, 2:05 first; Illegal defense, :20 first.
Illegal defense: 1.
Vancouver 18 16 27 20 - 81
Seattle 35 26 26 30 - 117
A-17,102 (16,296). T-2:08.