Hornets Steal From Sonics

Around the NBA

Tony Smith went from goat to hero in a span of 3 seconds Saturday as the Charlotte Hornets surprised the Seattle SuperSonics in Seattle.

Smith’s turnover on an attempted pass to Glen Rice gave the Sonics possession with 7.1 seconds left.

Smith made amends with his only steal of the game, picking off Detlef Schrempf’s inbounds pass intended for Gary Payton and scoring the winning basket with 4.3 seconds left.

“I was upset with myself because I made a poor pass but I didn’t get down on myself,” he said.

Smith stayed right with Payton as the Sonics guard broke for Schrempf’s pass. He had the inside path as the ball was thrown.

“He (Gary) bumped me to get separation. I was right on him. I didn’t think Detlef would throw the ball,” Smith said. “I tapped the ball away and the rest was easy.”

Schrempf had a chance to make up for his gaffe, too, but he missed a 15-footer with one second left.

Shawn Kemp led the Sonics with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Gary Payton added 25 points. Seattle had eight of its 20 turnovers and shot just 4 of 15 in the fourth quarter.

Anthony Mason played all 48 minutes for Charlotte and had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Karl expects fine

Sonics coach George Karl said he talked to Rod Thorn, the NBA senior vice president for basketball operations, on Friday and was told he would likely be fined, but not suspended, for his blowup at official Bennett Salvatore Thursday night.

The NBA will make an official announcement of the penalty Monday. Karl said Thorn didn’t have time to fully study tape of the incident Friday because he was attending the funeral of former All-Star John Williamson.

Karl said he didn’t think he would be suspended because a suspension would have taken place immediately.

Karl said he didn’t know how much he would be fined, but said “whatever it is, it’s a lot.”

Per the Karl family rules, Karl will have to give the same amount to his family.

Bulls lose at home

Dan Majerle’s 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left gave the Miami Heat an 83-80 victory over the Bulls, Chicago’s first home defeat of the season.

Michael Jordan scored 37 points for the Bulls, who lost only twice in 54 preseason, regular-season and playoff games at the United Center on their way to the 1995-96 NBA title. They entered Saturday’s game 17-1 overall.

Mills ties record

Terry Mills scored 16 points and tied an NBA record for consecutive 3-pointers, leading the Detroit Pistons to a 95-69 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

The 6-foot-10 Mills, who made all 12 of his 3-point attempts over the previous two games, tied an NBA record when he made his first long-range attempt with 1:44 left in the first period. He missed his next try.

Jazz keep rolling

Karl Malone scored 21 points as the visiting Utah Jazz beat Denver 104-91 for their 14th consecutive victory, tying the franchise record for consecutive wins.

John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek each added 18.

Slugger fined

Larry Johnson of the New York Knicks was docked a game’s pay plus a $5,000 fine for throwing a punch at Keith Askins of the Miami Heat in the final quarter Friday night.

Hornets 94, SuperSonics 92

FG FT Reb CHARLOTTE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Mason 48 8-15 1-2 5-10 7 3 17 Rice 40 8-16 2-2 1-2 2 2 22 Divac 44 4-10 5-8 1-9 2 3 13 Curry 40 8-17 1-2 2-3 2 3 21 Goldwire 22 2-7 2-2 0-1 5 3 8 Burrell 17 1-3 0-0 0-3 1 2 2 Smith 26 4-6 1-1 0-0 2 3 11 Zidek 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 240 35-74 12-17 9-28 21 20 94 Percentages: FG .473, FT .706.

3-Point Goals: 12-24, .500 (Rice 4-5, Curry 4-10, Smith 2-2, Goldwire 2-5, Divac 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 6.

Blocked shots: 1 (Mason).

Turnovers: 15 (Divac 5, Mason 3, Smith 3, Goldwire 2, Rice, team).

Steals: 13 (Divac 5, Curry 3, Rice 2, Mason, Goldwire, Smith).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 42 9-12 10-11 0-10 0 5 28 Schrempf 36 4-9 2-2 2-8 3 3 11 McIlvaine 23 4-5 0-0 1-7 0 4 8 Hawkins 33 3-9 2-3 2-5 5 2 8 Payton 41 10-21 4-4 1-1 9 0 25 Perkins 25 3-11 0-1 1-2 4 0 6 Stewart 8 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Ehlo 18 2-4 0-0 1-3 0 0 4 Snow 14 1-2 0-0 2-3 4 1 2 Totals 240 36-73 18-21 10-40 25 16 92 Percentages: FG .493, FT .857.

3-Point Goals: 2-13, .154 (Schrempf 1-2, Payton 1-3, Hawkins 0-3, Perkins 0-5). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked shots: 3 (Schrempf, McIlvaine, Stewart). Turnovers: 20 (Hawkins 5, Schrempf 4, Perkins 3, Kemp 2, Ehlo 2, team 2, Payton, Snow). Steals: 11 (Payton 4, Schrempf 2, Perkins 2, Kemp, Hawkins, Snow). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: None.

Charlotte 29 29 20 16 - 94 Seattle 27 31 24 10 - 92 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:13.