Suns Singe Supersonics On Chapman’s Big Plays No-Call Makes Seattle Unhappy After Perkins Grabs Key Rebound

Rex Chapman made two major contributions to help the Phoenix Suns keep their stretch drive going. He scored 25 points and made a heady defensive play right at the end.

Chapman, who scored all his points in the first three quarters, purposely missed a free throw with 1.7 seconds left as the Suns won their sixth straight game, 107-106 Sunday over Seattle.

The rebound went to Seattle’s Sam Perkins, but as Perkins raised his hands overhead, Chapman touched the ball and knocked him backward. Perkins fell to the floor and was unable to get rid of the ball as time ran out.

“I got all ball,” Chapman said. “I jumped, he flopped. I don’t think they’re going to call it that late in the game.”

Seattle coach George Karl, whose only two losses in the last seven games have been by two and one points to Phoenix, said Chapman got all Perkins.

“The referee didn’t have the courage to make the call on their home court,” Karl said. “We’ve lost a couple of games like that. We managed the game great, put ourselves in a position to win, and a call like that kills us.”

Perkins also couldn’t believe no foul was called.

“He just stood there and that was it,” Perkins said of Tommy Nunez and Dick Bavetta, the closest referees.

Wesley Person had 23 points for the Suns, who hit 15 of 28 3-pointers to finish within one of the franchise record.

“We’re playing very unselfishly - a lot of assists, a lot of ‘3s,’ a lot of wide-open shots,” Person said.

Jason Kidd had 19 points and 16 assists and Hot Rod Williams had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Hersey Hawkins scored a season-high 31 points for Seattle and shot 7-of-8 on 3-pointers. Gary Payton had 23 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, and Terry Cummings scored 18 points.

Shawn Kemp, relegated to the bench because he missed the team flight to Phoenix and an afternoon practice Saturday, played only 22 minutes and scored three points on 1-of-5 shooting with six turnovers.

After the game, he declined to speak to reporters.

“We have to get Shawn in the groove so he can dominate the game like we know he can,” Hawkins said.

Suns 107, SuperSonics 106

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Stewart 13 2-3 2-2 0-1 1 5 6 Perkins 28 2-8 2-3 1-9 3 2 6 McIlvaine 15 2-2 2-2 4-9 0 2 6 Hawkins 44 12-18 0-0 0-3 7 0 31 Payton 43 10-23 3-5 4-9 9 3 23 McMillan 31 2-2 0-0 0-3 4 1 5 Kemp 22 1-5 1-2 2-5 2 4 3 Wingate 17 3-6 0-0 0-1 2 5 6 Cummings 21 9-12 0-0 2-4 0 3 18 Ehlo 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Graham 5 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 240 43-79 12-16 13-44 28 25 106

Percentages: FG .544, FT .750.

3-Point Goals: 8-17, .471 (Hawkins 7-8, McMillan 1-1, Wingate 0-2, Perkins 0-3, Paytonmn 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 4

Blocked shots: 2 (Perkins, McIlvaine)

Turnovers: 22 (Kemp 6, Payton 4, Perkind 3, McMillan 3, Stewart 2, Hawkins 2, Cummins, McIlvaine).

Steals: 14 (Hawkins 5, Payton 4, McMillan 3, Stewart, Kemp).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb PHOENIX Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Chapman 32 9-14 1-5 0-3 2 3 25 Manning 33 4-10 1-2 1-6 3 3 9 Williams 43 5-9 5-6 4-11 0 4 15 Johnson 40 5-12 0-0 0-1 6 3 13 Kidd 42 7-13 4-6 2-6 16 3 19 Llamas 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ceballos 8 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Meyer 8 1-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 3 Person 31 8-14 2-4 0-3 2 2 23 Nash 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 39-73 14-25 7-31 29 18 107

Percentages: FG .534, FT .560.

3-Point Goals: 15-280-0, .536 (Chapman 6-10, Person 5-9, Johnson 3-6, Kidd 1-2, Manning 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 6

Blocked shots: 2 (Manning, Williams).

Turnovers: 20 (Johnson 6, Kidd 5, Chapman 3, Person 3, Williams 2, Manning).

Steals: 10 (Kidd 4, Johnson 3, Person 2, Manning).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

Seattle 32 25 20 29 - 106

Phoenix 26 30 29 22 - 107

A-19,023 (19,023). T-2:08.

Officials-Dick Bavetta, Tommy Nunez, Tommie Wood.