Railroaded? Roughed Up By Refs, Sonics Cry Foul In Loss To Jazz

The SuperSonics couldn’t control the ball or their emotions Friday night, getting initially taken out of the game by the referees and ultimately by the Utah Jazz.

Entering Game 3 of the Western Conference finals with eight straight wins, the Sonics were a locomotive and Delta Center turned out to be a whistle-stop on their way toward an NBA championship.

The complaints in the locker room seemed justified after the Sonics dropped a 96-76 decision to the Jazz, who roughed them up and got away with much of the abuse.

Nevertheless, the Sonics still stand as the bullies in this series, leading 2-1 now with Game 4 to be played here Sunday afternoon.

Rightfully, the Sonics were upset. But they responded improperly with backtalk and frustration.

Their shooting, which was so wonderfully accurate in the first quarter, cooled, unlike their tempers. They scored fewer points in each quarter, finishing with 11 in the fourth, tying a franchise low and establishing a new sub-standard in club history with 29 in a half.

The Sonics shot 3 for 15 in the fourth quarter and committed five more turnovers to give them 26 on the evening. Those numbers add up to 20-point losses, but the Sonics pointed toward the officiating as a primary reason for their huge defeat.

“It’s tough to keep your head in the game when you feel like everything is going against you,” said Nate McMillan. “The fouls were unbelievable. They were bumping us, we were bumping them, and we would get called for it. It mentally drained us. You’ve got to play through that because it … could happen again.”

McMillan was one of the victims. After fouling John Stockton twice in succession, McMillan approached Hue Hollins to talk to him, telling the official: “I’m the speaking captain.”

It resulted in a technical foul.

“That’s Hue Hollins for you,” said Detlef Schrempf, another Sonic who did not get a break.

There were many inexplicable whistles. If they were umpires, Friday night’s officials would have called a ball in the dirt a strike.

But the worst development in the game was that the Sonics did not ignore the distractions the way they should have. They realized coming in the Jazz would be more physical at the Delta Center.

“You know they’re going to get the calls, just like at our place we get the calls,” said Vince Askew. “It goes both ways. You have to accept that.”

But the Sonics didn’t. They lost their composure and then the game.

“We’ve just got to stay away from them (referees) and keep playing,” said Gary Payton, playing with his freshly inscribed number (20) and a Nike swoosh on the side of his head.

Payton had 25 points after a brilliant start in which he made three 3-pointers in the first quarter, directing the Sonics to a 22-14 lead.

But the Jazz rallied in the second quarter when the bruising began and Bryon Russell checked in. Russell, who played just 2 minutes against the Sonics in four regular season games, had 10 of his 24 points in the second quarter, taking the Jazz to a 51-47 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, although Stockton continued to be stifled by Payton, the Sonics could not stop Karl Malone and Jeff Hornacek, the latter highly effective with 28 points. Malone had 18 rebounds.

Even with all of the whistles and Shawn Kemp in foul trouble for the second straight game, the Sonics were still within 80-74 with 6:08 to go.

They would get just one more field goal, giving them but three in the period. Utah countered with a 16-2 sprint to the finish, featuring a pair of 3s by Russell, whose exuberance was contagious to the Jazz.

“I just try to get the fans into it,” said the second-year player from Long Beach State. “Once they get behind us, it’s over.”

Asked about a member of the Jazz bench responding for the first time in the series, Payton said: “He came through, but I didn’t see anybody else on the bench come through.”

Sonics coach George Karl thought Russell’s impact hurt the Sonics but said his team’s ballhandling and execution were more troubling.

“If there was a fundamental of the game that we got burned on, we didn’t pass the ball well enough to win,” Karl said.

Jazz 96, SuperSonics 76

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 33 7-17 1-2 0-2 2 3 17 Kemp 26 2-4 6-7 0-4 0 5 10 Johnson 14 2-3 2-2 3-5 2 4 6 Hawkins 35 2-5 6-6 2-6 2 3 10 Payton 43 11-21 0-0 1-6 3 3 25 Perkins 33 2-8 0-1 0-5 2 1 5 Askew 23 1-2 1-2 0-2 2 4 3 McMillan 24 0-5 0-2 1-4 2 3 0 Brickowski 8 0-3 0-0 0-3 1 2 0 Wingate 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 27-68 16-22 7-37 16 28 76 Percentages: FG .397, FT .727.

3-Point Goals: 6-25, .240 (Payton 3-8, Schrempf 2-4, Perkins 1-6, Hawkins 0-2, Brickowski 0-2, McMillan 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 4 (Kemp 2, Perkins, Brickowski).

Turnovers: 26 (Kemp 8, Schrempf 4, Perkins 3, Askew 3, Hawkins 2, Payton 2, McMillan 2, Brickowski 2).

Steals: 5 (Hawkins, Payton, Perkins, Askew, Brickowski).

Technical fouls: McMillan, 7:36 second; Askew, 6:40 second; illegal defense, 4:38 third.

Flagrant foul: Brickowski, 7:05 second.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb UTAH Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Morris 12 1-6 1-2 1-2 0 0 3 Malone 44 12-29 4-6 7-18 4 3 28 Spencer 17 1-1 0-2 1-1 0 2 2 Hornacek 42 9-14 7-7 5-7 8 1 28 Stockton 37 2-9 3-8 0-2 6 3 7 Carr 28 1-2 2-2 1-5 3 3 4 Russell 39 8-14 5-6 0-10 2 5 24 Eisley 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 2 0 Ostertag 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Benoit 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Keefe 2 0-0 0-2 0-0 0 1 0 Foster 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 34-77 22-35 15-45 26 20 96 Percentages: FG .442, FT .629.

3-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Hornacek 3-4, Russell 3-6, Benoit 0-1, Stockton 0-2, Morris 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 9 (Carr 3, Malone 2, Spencer, Hornacek, Russell, Ostertag).

Turnovers: 17 (Malone 6, Spencer 3, Morris 2, Hornacek 2, Stockton 2, Carr, Eisley).

Steals: 9 (Russell 3, Malone 2, Hornacek 2, Morris, Eisley).

Technical fouls: illegal defense 5, 7:22 second; 4:11 second; 8:47 third; 5:35 third; 21.7 third.

Illegal defense: 1. Seattle 27 20 18 11 - 76 Utah 24 27 21 24 - 96 A-19,911 (19,911). T-2:25.

Officials-Mike Mathis, Hue Hollins, Jack Nies.