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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shaq Buries Supersonics By Draining Late Foul Shots Los Angeles Hands Seattle Its Second Straight Loss, 110-106

Bob Condotta Tacoma News Tribune

A victory over the Seattle SuperSonics? Heck, Los Angles Lakers fans see that all the time, having witnessed nine the past two years, including the 1995 playoffs.

But Shaquille O’Neal draining two straight free throws when it really matters? Now that’s worth singing “I Love L.A.” about, which they do here at The Great Western Forum when another Lakers win seems secure.

They sang Randy Newman’s tune Tuesday night shortly after O’Neal made two free throws with 44 seconds left that put the Lakers up by three in an eventual 110-106 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 17,505.

“I didn’t think he’d make two,” said Sonics assistant coach Terry Stotts, who was filling in as acting head coach for George Karl, who stayed at the team’s hotel suffering from the flu.

The game was the first of the season between the teams expected to fight it out for the Pacific Division, if not the Western Conference, and it didn’t disappoint, featuring an intensity missing much of the season.

But the game probably didn’t prove anything, as the Lakers have long had the Sonics’ number here - they have now won five of the past six in Los Angeles and Seattle was without Karl and played the final 4:12 without the fouled-out Shawn Kemp and Jim McIlvaine.

“It’s just one game,” said forward Detlef Schrempf, who led Seattle with 27 points. “Let them think (it means something). That’s fine.”

The Sonics have now also lost two in a row for the first time since November of 1995, having dropped a 96-90 decision to Utah at KeyArena on Sunday.

McIlvaine and Kemp acquired many of their fouls trying to guard the 7-foot O’Neal, who finished the game with 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in his first game against Seattle since signing as a free agent over the summer.

O’Neal’s two freebies - the notoriously poor free throw shooter entered the game making only 44 percent - put L.A. up 109-106.

O’Neal had been immediately fouled by Sam Perkins after rebounding a missed free throw by Schrempf that could have tied the game. O’Neal had hit only four of his previous eight on the night.

Lakers 110, SuperSonics 106

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 30 8-16 6-7 6-14 0 6 22 Schrempf 42 8-14 9-12 1-6 8 1 27 McIlvaine 22 1-4 0-0 5-8 0 6 2 Hawkins 33 7-12 0-0 1-3 3 1 17 Payton 43 9-19 6-11 1-3 6 3 24 Perkins 34 4-6 1-2 0-2 3 2 10 Ehlo 22 1-6 0-0 1-5 1 1 2 Stewart 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Snow 5 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 2 Totals 240 39-79 22-32 15-41 22 23 106 Percentages: FG .494, FT .688.

3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Hawkins 3-4, Schrempf 3-4, Perkins 1-3, Kemp 0-1, Payton 0-2, Ehlo 0-3). Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 2 (McIlvaine, Perkins). Turnovers: 13 (Kemp 6, Schrempf 2, Payton 2, McIlvaine, Perkins, Ehlo). Steals: 7 (Kemp 2, Schrempf, McIlvaine, Payton, Ehlo, Stewart). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb L.A. LAKERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Campbell 35 4-7 4-5 1-3 3 5 12 Jones 43 6-14 1-2 3-7 9 3 15 O’Neal 45 13-25 6-10 5-14 7 2 32 Robinson 4 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 0 0 Van Exel 37 6-13 4-5 0-2 6 2 18 Kersey 33 5-9 1-2 1-3 2 4 12 Knight 12 0-1 1-2 2-3 1 4 1 Fisher 11 2-5 0-0 1-4 3 4 4 Scott 20 6-9 0-0 0-0 0 2 16 Totals 240 42-84 17-26 13-37 32 26 110 Percentages: FG .500, FT .654.

3-Point Goals: 9-19, .474 (Scott 4-6, Jones 2-4, Van Exel 2-4, Kersey 1-3, Robinson 0-1, Fisher 0-1). Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 9 (Jones 3, O’Neal 3, Campbell 2, Van Exel). Turnovers: 12 (O’Neal 3, Van Exel 3, Scott 2, Campbell, Jones, Kersey, Fisher). Steals: 8 (Kersey 3, Jones 2, O’Neal, Knight, Fisher).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 28 30 26 22 - 106

L.A. Lakers 26 29 35 20 - 110

A-17,505 (17,505). T-2:16.