Sonics Tie Franchise Record For Wins Seattle Could Pick Up No. 64 Against Timberwolves, Denver

Hersey Hawkins scored 20 points, including a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 40 seconds left, and Gary Payton added 17 points and 10 assists as Seattle tied a franchise record with its 63rd victory, a 96-90 defeat of Portland on Wednesday night.

Seattle has two games remaining in a bid to break the victory record established two years ago.

Clifford Robinson scored 21 to lead the Blazers, winners of 17 of 19 previous games.

The Blazers played without Rod Strickland, their starting point guard who did not make the trip from Portland because of a sore left groin. Strickland also will miss the Blazers’ Friday night road game against Golden State.

Seattle, which already had clinched the top seed in the West, improved to 63-17. The Sonics play Minnesota at home on Friday night and then close the regular season Sunday at Denver.

The Sonics had a 78-64 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Blazers battled back to 87-83 with 4:38 left after Robinson’s three-point play.

With 4:08 left, Seattle coach George Karl put Hawkins into the game for the first time in the fourth quarter and Hawkins hit a 3-pointer with 2:40 left for a 94-85 Seattle lead.

Payton followed with a 10-footer from the key with 2:15 to go for a 96-85 advantage.

The Sonics pulled out to a 14-point lead in the third quarter as Ervin Johnson scored eight points, including a dunk with 45.7 seconds left in the period. Seattle sank four 3-pointers in the period, including one by Nate McMillan with 1:12 left in the quarter.

The socre was tied 44-44 at half-time after the Sonics used a 15-0 run to take a 41-35 lead with 3:20 left in the second quarter. Seattle’s spurt included 3-pointers by Frank Brickowski, McMillan and David Wingate.

In the second quarter, the Blazers’ Chris Dudley drew a technical foul and a big smile from Brickowski after he pushed the backup Sonics center.

Seattle played the second period without Shawn Kemp, who left the game after picking up his third foul with 2:17 left in the opening quarter.

Payton also sat out the second quarter.

Kemp finished up with 10 pints, eight rebounds and five fouls.

Notes

Key Seattle reserve Vincent Askew was not in uniform because of a right ankel sprain at Houston on Monday night…Seattle won the season series from Portland 3-1…All three of Portland’s losses in its last 20 games were on the road…Johnson had 13 rebounds for the Sonics, one less than his career high.

SuperSonics 96, Trail Blazers 90

FG FT Reb PORTLAND Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Grant 40 4-12 2-2 3-6 2 2 11 C.Robinson 38 6-15 8-10 1-3 4 5 21 Sabonis 26 8-14 2-3 2-7 0 2 18 McKie 31 2-6 3-4 1-5 5 2 8 R.Robinson 22 3-9 2-2 2-3 2 2 10 Dudley 17 1-8 1-2 3-7 0 1 3 J.Robinson 26 4-9 0-0 0-2 2 2 11 Williams 20 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 4 2 Wingfield 20 2-5 2-4 1-4 1 2 6 Totals 240 31-83 20-27 13-37 18 22 90

Percentages: FG .373, FT .741. 3-Point Goals: 8-26, .308 (J.Robinson 3-5, R.Robinson 2-4, Grant 1-3, McKie 1-4, C.Robinson 1-7, Sabonis 0-1, Wingfield 0-2). Team Rebounds: 13. Blocked shots: 4 (Sabonis 2, C.Robinson, Wingfield). Turnovers: 15 (R.Robinson 3, McKie 2, Sabonis 2, J.Robinson 2, Grant, Dudley, Williams, Wingfield, team 2). Steals: 12 (C.Robinson 6, Grant 2, Wingfield 2, Sabonis, McKie). Technical fouls: Dudley, 7:27 second. Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 26 3-5 4-6 1-8 0 5 10 Schrempf 37 4-13 3-5 1-4 5 4 12 Johnson 28 5-8 2-2 2-13 1 3 12 Hawkins 30 7-12 2-2 0-2 3 0 20 Payton 33 8-16 0-0 4-6 10 1 17 McMillan 30 4-5 0-0 1-4 2 3 11 Perkins 22 1-5 2-2 0-4 1 3 4 Brickowski 14 2-5 2-2 0-4 1 3 7 Wingate 19 1-5 0-0 0-0 4 0 3 Scheffler 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 35-74 15-19 9-45 27 22 96

Percentages: FG .473, FT .789. 3-Point Goals: 11-24, .458 (Hawkins 4-8, McMillan 3-3, Payton 1-2, Brickowski 1-3, Wingate 1-3, Schrempf 1-4, Perkins 0-1). Team Rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 7 (Johnson 3, Kemp 2, Hawkins, Brickowski). Turnovers: 19 (Payton 7, Schrempf 5, Hawkins 2, Brickowski 2, Kemp, Johnson, Wingate). Steals: 9 (Payton 3, McMillan 2, Kemp, Schrempf, Johnson, Hawkins). Technical fouls: Schrempf, :52 second. Portland 26 18 20 26 - 90 Seattle 19 25 34 18 - 96