It’s Unappreciation Night Boo Birds Haunt Kemp As Sonics Halt Cavs

They booed Shawn Kemp during player introductions, they booed him every time he touched the ball.

It was anything but a lovefest between Kemp and his former fans as the five-time All-Star made his return to the city where he played the first eight years of his NBA career.

Kemp had a dismal first half and a strong second half as his new team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, lost 99-91 to the Seattle SuperSonics on Saturday night.

“I tried to keep the tension out of my head and concentrate on winning the game,” Kemp said. “You can take the boos and try and use them as a positive.”

Gary Payton had 28 points and Vin Baker added 21 points as the Sonics swept the Cavs for the fourth straight year.

Kemp had 17 points on 5-for-11 shooting with seven rebounds and four turnovers. He scored 16 of his points in the second half, and his 17-footer tied the game at 83 before Payton helped the Sonics pull away.

Kemp was sent to the Cavs in a three-way deal last summer. It appears the Sonics have forgiven and forgotten, but the same is not true for the fans. Most of the crowd of 17,072 expressed their disapproval at every opportunity.

“He had some great seasons here,” Vin Baker said. “For a player of his caliber to get a reception like that is tough. Fans can be tough.”

“I wished everyone had cheered,” Hersey Hawkins said. “He meant too much to the city to be treated like that.”

Cavs coach Mike Fratello said he was disappointed that Kemp didn’t get a better reception.

“The people who booed him don’t understand how hard he worked and that sometimes things have to come to an end,” Fratello said.

Payton scored on a layup and hit the free throw to give the Sonics a 92-85 lead with 2:17 left.

Dale Ellis had 17 points and Detlef Schrempf added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Rookie Cedric Henderson led the Cavs with a career-high 23 points, and Wesley Person added 16.

Payton made sure Kemp didn’t get a win in his return. His basket snapped an 83-83 tie. Payton and Baker then double-teamed Kemp, and his errant pass was stolen by Ellis, who scored on a driving layup for an 87-83 advantage with 3:43 left.

Derek Anderson dunked to close it to 87-85, but the Sonics ran off seven straight points for a 92-85 lead.

Because of foul trouble, Kemp played only nine minutes in the first half and went 0 for 3 from the field with one free throw and three fouls.

Baker scored 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the first half.

The Sonics opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run capped by Hersey Hawkins’ three-point play for a 34-24 lead. Cleveland turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the second quarter.

After Henderson rallied the Cavs to 45-39, the Sonics reasserted control. Payton hit a 3-pointer, Baker dunked and was fouled and hit the free throw for 51-39 advantage. The Sonics led 57-43 at halftime.

Payton had a big first half with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. Ellis had 11 points off the bench, including three 3-pointers.

Notes

Sonics forward Jerome Kersey was activated from the injured list. He missed 26 games because of a stress fracture in his left foot. To make room, Eric Snow was placed on the injured list with a right ankle injury … . Craig Ehlo, who played with both the Cavs and Sonics, watched pregame warmups from behind the Cavs bench and exchanged a hug with Danny Ferry.

MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition.

This sidebar appeared with the story: SuperSonics 99, Cavaliers 91 FG FT Reb CLEVELAND Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Henderson 45 10-15 3-5 2-5 2 5 23 Kemp 30 5-11 7-10 0-7 3 4 17 Ilgauskas 18 3-5 0-0 2-7 1 5 6 Knight 35 2-10 1-2 3-6 11 5 5 Person 39 6-11 2-2 1-5 2 3 16 Potapenko 27 5-8 0-0 2-2 1 1 10 Anderson 28 4-7 6-6 1-2 3 2 14 Dumas 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brooks 10 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 James 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ferry 5 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Totals 240 35-69 19-25 11-35 24 27 91 Percentages: FG .507, FT .760. 3-Point Goals: 2-7, .286 (Person 2-4, Anderson 0-1, Brooks 0-2). Team Rebounds: 12. Blocked shots: 7 (Ilgauskas 3, Kemp 2, Henderson, Person). Turnovers: 23 (Anderson 5, Kemp 4, Knight 4, Ilgauskas 2, Potapenko 2, Ferry 2, Henderson, Person, Team 2). Steals: 9 (Knight 3, Henderson 2, Kemp 2, Person, Anderson). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: 1. FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 38 8-13 5-8 5-6 2 6 21 Schrempf 41 5-15 6-6 4-11 2 2 16 McIlvaine 12 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 5 2 Hawkins 35 2-8 1-1 0-3 4 4 6 Payton 45 10-18 6-9 3-8 6 3 28 Perkins 24 3-7 0-0 1-1 1 1 7 Ellis 30 6-13 2-4 2-3 1 2 17 Kersey 10 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2 2 Anthony 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Wingate 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 36-81 20-28 16-33 18 26 99 Percentages: FG .444, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 7-21, .333 (Ellis 3-5, Payton 2-6, Hawkins 1-3, Perkins 1-5, Schrempf 0-1, Anthony 0-1). Team Rebounds: 13. Blocked shots: 4 (Baker 2, McIlvaine, Hawkins). Turnovers: 18 (Schrempf 3, Payton 3, Hawkins 2, Perkins 2, Kersey 2, Wingate 2, Baker, McIlvaine, Ellis, Team). Steals: 12 (Kersey 3, Payton 2, Perkins 2, Ellis 2, Baker, Schrempf, Hawkins). Technical fouls: None. Flagrant foul: Perkins, 9:41 fourth. Illegal defense: None. Cleveland 24 19 23 25 - 91 Seattle 22 35 15 27 - 99 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:14.