Sonics Roll By Wizards

Gary Payton scored 18 points and Aaron Williams had 15 of his 16 points in the third quarter as the Seattle SuperSonics routed the Washington Wizards 114-73 on Friday night.

Seattle will face the Los Angeles Lakers in tonight’s title game of the Great Western Forum Shootout, while the Wizards play Atlanta. The Lakers beat the Hawks 93-89 in Friday’s second game.

Tracy Murray scored 22 points for the Wizards, who never led in the game and fell behind by 40 points midway through the fourth quarter. Juwan Howard and Gheorghe Muresan did not make the trip with the team because of ankle injuries, and Rod Strickland missed his second consecutive game after injuring his left hamstring Monday night.

Chris Webber, who averaged 19.4 points and nine rebounds through Washington’s first five exhibition games, played only 5 minutes in the first quarter. A club spokesperson said Webber was not injured.

Vin Baker and Jerome Kersey each scored 11 points in the first half for the Sonics, who used a 13-2 spurt at the end of the half to extend their five-point lead to 47-31. Seattle extended its margin to 83-54 by the end of the third quarter as Williams shot 6 for 8 from the field in the period.

Sonics 114, Wizards 73

Washington (73) - Webber 1-5 0-0 2, Grant 1-3 0-0 2, L.Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Cheaney 4-12 0-0 8, Whitney 2-14 3-4 7, Murray 8-16 4-6 22, Ham 2-7 1-4 5, Legler 0-1 2-2 2, Shammgod 0-4 2-2 2, Wallace 3-3 0-2 6, Oliver 2-18 0-0 4, Leckner 2-3 0-0 4, McCaskill 3-4 1-1 7, Kornegay 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-95 13-21 73.

Seattle (114) - Baker 5-8 4-6 14, Schrempf 3-5 9-12 15, A.Williams 6-10 4-5 16, Hawkins 2-4 0-0 5, Payton 6-13 6-7 18, Kersey 5-8 4-4 15, Ellis 1-4 2-2 5, Perkins 1-2 2-2 4, McIlvaine 3-6 1-4 7, Snow 3-6 0-0 7, Wingate 4-5 0-0 8, Anthony 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-72 32-42 114.

Halftime-Seattle 47, Washington 31. 3-Point goals-Washington 2-22 (Murray 2-5, Webber 0-1, Cheaney 0-2, Shammgod 0-2, Oliver 0-5, Whitney 0-7), Seattle 4-9 (Hawkins 1-1, Snow 1-1, Kersey 1-2, Ellis 1-3, Payton 0-2). Fouled out-Shammgod. Rebounds-Washington 45 (L.Williams, Wallace 8) Seattle 46 (McIlvaine 9). Assists-Washington 16 (Whitney 5), Seattle 27 (Hawkins 6). Total fouls-Washington 32, Seattle 24. A-NA.