Sonics Start Fast, Survive Late For Win

Not quite by design, the Seattle SuperSonics found a way to turn an apparent blowout into an exciting game.

Shawn Kemp scored 34 points and Gary Payton 31 as the Sonics, after blowing a 16-point lead in the final 6 minutes of regulation, stretched their winning streak to nine games by beating Washington 115-110 in double overtime Wednesday night.

It was the second straight night that Seattle lost a sizeable lead before pulling out a victory. The Sonics were up by 15 at halftime in Toronto and let the lead dwindle to four points before winning by eight.

This time, Seattle led 92-76 with 5:20 left before letting Washington back into the game.

“We played great for 3-1/2 quarters, and all of a sudden we went down in the tank just like the other night,” the Sonics’ Detlef Schrempf said. “We let them back in the ballgame and made it difficult on ourselves. It showed something that we stayed together after some bonehead plays.”

The Sonics survived a heroic effort by the Bullets’ Chris Webber, who had 34 points and 13 rebounds in a career-high 56 minutes. Webber tied the game with a 3-pointer late in regulation and scored all 10 of Washington’s points in the first overtime.

But the Bullets ran out of energy in the second overtime, going scoreless until Chris Whitney hit a 3-pointer with 1:05 left. By that time, Schrempf had scored on a jumper and Payton had made successive layups for a 113-107 lead.

It was 113-110 when Washington’s Rod Strickland missed a layup with 9 seconds to go. Sam Perkins then sealed the win with two free throws.

The Bullets were 1 for 9 in the second extra period.

“The best aspect of this game is that we saw a ton of heart out on the court,” Bullets coach Jim Lynam said.

Kemp had 12 rebounds and Schrempf finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Payton made 13 of 22 shots in 52 minutes and scored half of Seattle’s eight points in the second overtime as the Sonics improved to 6-0 on the road since opening the season with a loss at Utah. “It’s an early season game and we quit playing a little bit,” Sonics coach George Karl said. “The positive thing is that we hung on.”

Sonics 115, Bullets 110 (2OT)

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 50 12-23 10-16 1-12 2 5 34 Schrempf 50 8-18 6-6 2-15 4 3 23 McIlvaine 23 0-1 0-0 1-8 0 3 0 Hawkins 39 2-10 0-0 2-4 4 3 5 Payton 52 13-22 1-3 2-3 7 4 31 Stewart 21 0-0 6-6 1-2 1 2 6 Ehlo 18 0-4 0-0 1-1 1 2 0 Perkins 28 4-10 4-4 1-4 1 3 14 Snow 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 2 0 Wingate 3 0-1 2-2 0-0 0 1 2 Totals 290 39-89 29-37 11-49 22 28 115 Percentages: FG .438, FT .784.

3-Point Goals: 8-21, .381 (Payton 4-6, Perkins 2-5, Schrempf 1-2, Hawkins 1-6, Ehlo 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 14.

Blocked shots: 7 (Kemp 3, Schrempf, McIlvaine, Hawkins, Perkins).

Turnovers: 21 (Kemp 5, Hawkins 4, Payton 3, Schrempf 2, McIlvaine 2, Ehlo 2, Stewart, Perkins, Snow).

Steals: 12 (Kemp 3, Perkins 3, McIlvaine 2, Payton 2, Hawkins, Snow).

Technical fouls: Payton, :6.3 third; Illega defense, 5:05 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb WASHINGTON Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Grant 26 2-5 0-0 1-6 0 4 4 Howard 51 4-14 7-8 6-13 8 6 15 Webber 56 15-24 3-6 5-13 5 5 34 Cheaney 22 0-6 0-0 0-1 1 2 0 Strickland 46 7-18 1-2 5-11 9 1 15 Jackson 19 4-10 0-0 2-3 0 3 11 Murray 36 5-16 2-2 2-6 1 6 16 Whitney 29 4-13 4-7 1-4 0 1 15 Wallace 5 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 1 0 Totals 290 41-106 17-25 23-58 24 29 110 Percentages: FG .387, FT .680.

3-Point Goals: 11-30, .367 (Murray 4-12, Jackson 3-6, Whitney 3-9, Webber 1-1, Grant 0-1, Strickland 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 13 (Webber 7, Grant 2, Murray 2, Strickland, Jackson).

Turnovers: 20 (Strickland 7, Grant 3, Howard 3, Webber 2, Whitney 2, Cheaney, Jackson, Murray).

Steals: 7 (Grant 2, Murray 2, Howard, Webber, Whitney).

Technical fouls: Whitney, :6.3 third.

Illegal defense: None.

Seattle 23282422108- 115 Washington28201930103- 110 A-18,756 (18,756). T-2:46.

Officials-Dan Crawford, Ted Bernhardt, Sean Corbin.