Subsonics Lay Bricks On Road Off-Season Rumors Begin To Fly As Rockets Advance

The buzzer sounded, the season ended earlier than expected, and then Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp gave cause to wonder just how busy an off-season this might be for the Seattle SuperSonics.

What Kemp and Payton said afterward almost overshadowed the thrilling comeback that came up just short as the Sonics lost to the Houston Rockets 96-91 in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals Saturday afternoon in front of 16,285 at The Summit.

Kemp hinted after scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds that the game might have been his last in Seattle. Payton, who had argued with coach George Karl during the game while scoring a game-high 27 points along the way, questioned some of Karl’s decisions.

Rumors of a possible off-season trade have swirled around Kemp the past few months because of his unhappiness over his contract situation and his bizarre behavior that included several missed practices and team flights. But Kemp has always publicly responded that he wanted to remain in Seattle.

Saturday afternoon, however, Kemp said when asked about next year that “there will be a lot of changes, I think, but we will wait for the future on that.” Asked if he would be part of those changes, Kemp said again that “we’ll wait for the future on that” then abruptly cut off the interview.

Payton was upset that he wasn’t assigned to cover Houston point guard Matt Maloney for the entire game, as he had been during Seattle’s wins in Games 5 and 6, and that the Sonics, who fell behind thanks in large part to their 38-percent shooting, didn’t press until they were down 14 with under four minutes left.

The press ignited a comeback that got Seattle within two with 19.1 seconds left. But after a Houston free throw, Kemp missed an off-balance jumper on a play that had actually been designed for Payton, who was double-covered, and a season that never seemed as smooth as the previous year’s trek to the 1996 NBA Finals finally ended.

“If we would have pressed them from the beginning we would have won the game,” Payton said. “We didn’t press until we were down by 10 and then it worked.

That was a decision that the coaching staff made, but I think we should have from the beginning.”

Karl was gone by the time Payton spoke, but earlier had praised his team’s character in staging the late rally - and coming back from a 3-1 deficit to force a Game 7 - saying that the team’s 31-of-81 shooting was the ultimate cause of doom.

“For us to win I thought we had to play well and I don’t know if we played well,” Karl said. “I thought we played with heart and guts and courage and I liked how we played, but I don’t know if we played well.”

Seattle took its last lead less than three minutes into the second half before going on a horrendous cold spell that allowed Houston to build a 14-point lead with 3:57 remaining. Seattle made only one of 17 shots in an almost 12-minute stretch in the third and fourth quarters, a stretch of ineptness the team was unable to overcome.

Now the Sonics are left to wonder what caused this team to lose seven more games than 1996’s franchise-best 64-18 mark.

Karl has a year left on his contract worth a guaranteed $3.5 million, although that hasn’t stopped rumors that he might be wooed by other teams, most notably Golden State.

Karl, however, has maintained all year that he will return for the final year on his contract.

Only four players are free agents - center Terry Cummings, forward Larry Stewart and guards Eric Snow and David Wingate.

Every other player on the team is under contract for next season. Only Nate McMillan, Sam Perkins and Steve Scheffler are without multiple years left on their contracts, and that could restrict movement.

And most of the players and coaches seem more than willing to take another shot next year, feeling that the closeness of the Houston series - the Rockets ended the series scoring only 10 more points than Seattle, and six of the games were decided by six points or less - shows there’s no cause for alarm.

“I think the team will stay intact,” said McMillan, who reiterated he plans to return after having off-season surgery to repair his injured knee. “For the most part we will have the same team next season.”

But he said that before Kemp made his uncertain statement.

Rockets 96, SuperSonics 91

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 37 4-10 5-8 2-8 4 5 15 Kemp 42 7-16 7-8 5-10 3 4 21 Perkins 27 2-8 0-0 1-3 1 4 4 Hawkins 41 4-10 4-5 2-5 2 4 12 Payton 46 9-22 5-6 2-8 7 3 27 Wingate 18 3-7 0-0 2-4 2 2 7 Cummings 23 2-6 1-2 1-6 0 1 5 Snow 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Graham 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 Totals 240 31-81 22-29 15-44 21 23 91 Percentages: FG .383, FT .759. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Payton 4-7, Schrempf 2-3, Wingate 1-2, Snow 0-1, Perkins 0-1, Kemp 0-2, Hawkins 0-2). Team Rebounds: 9. Blocked shots: 1 (Kemp). Turnovers: 15 (Kemp 8, Schrempf 2, Payton 2, Cummings 2, Hawkins). Steals: 8 (Payton 3, Kemp 2, Perkins, Hawkins, Graham). Technical foul: Wingate, :47.8 first. Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb HOUSTON Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Elie 38 2-5 4-4 0-0 11 5 9 Barkley 44 7-13 6-6 5-14 1 3 20 Olajuwon 40 11-19 0-3 4-13 1 5 22 Drexler 42 9-19 4-7 3-8 8 4 24 Maloney 37 5-11 2-4 0-3 2 2 15 Threatt 20 0-2 0-0 0-1 1 0 0 Willis 12 1-4 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 Johnson 7 2-6 0-0 1-2 0 3 4 Totals 240 37-79 16-24 13-43 24 24 96 Percentages: FG .468, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 6-24, .250 (Maloney 3-8, Drexler 2-8, Elie 1-4, Barkley 0-1, Threatt 0-1, Johnson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 11. Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 17 (Drexler 5, Barkley 4, Maloney 3, Elie 2, Threatt 2, Olajuwon). Steals: 10 (Olajuwon 4, Drexler 2, Threatt 2, Barkley, Maloney). Technical fouls: Drexler, :47.8 first; Elie, 11:29 second; Willis, 11:29 second; Illegal defense, 10:42 fourth. Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 31 19 17 24 - 91

Houston 30 25 19 22 - 96

A-16,285 (16,285). T-2:29.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ON DECK Today: New York at Miami, 12:30 p.m., NBC. (Series tied at 3.) Monday: Houston at Utah, 5:30 p.m., TNT. (Game 1.)