Kemp Keeps Sonics Running Forward’s Board Work Helps Seattle Win Seventh Straight

Shawn Kemp is averaging nearly 19 points, but it’s another part of his game that jumpstarts the Seattle SuperSonics.

“My job is to rebound, rebound, rebound,” Kemp said. “When I do that, we play at a faster pace and get a lot more opportunities offensively.”

Kemp had 18 rebounds and 21 points Sunday as the Sonics won their seventh straight game and moved into first place in the Pacific Division with a 105-83 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Sonics moved past the Phoenix Suns, who lost 109-103 Sunday to the San Antonio Spurs.

Kemp has led the Sonics in rebounding the past 13 games and the Sonics have won 12 of them.

“When I rebound well early in the game, the rest of my game seems to be there too,” Kemp said.

The Sonics’ run started March 11 against the New York Knicks when Kemp’s 22 points and 19 rebounds keyed a 96-84 win.

Kemp said the presence of 6-foot11 Ervin Johnson at center has been a help inside.

“He’ll tip some balls and that will give me a chance to run down some rebounds,” Kemp said.

An example of Kemp’s overall play Sunday happened in the opening minutes when he beat Hawks forward Grant Long for a long rebound, dribbled up the floor and hit Detlef Schrempf for a layup.

“Shawn was everywhere today,” Sonics coach George Karl said.

Kemp had 13 points and nine rebounds in the opening quarter as the Sonics took a 33-13 lead. The Hawks got no closer than 81-65 with 9 minutes left.

“Kemp created the energy and emotion that carried them in the first quarter,” Hawks center Andrew Lang said.

Gary Payton also had 21 points for the Sonics as they swept the Hawks for the first time since the 1987-88 season. Seattle routed the Hawks 121-98 on Feb. 3 in their other meeting this season.

Sam Perkins’ 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Sonics a 60-33 halftime lead.

The Sonics connected on 11 of 20 3-pointers overall, and scored 21 points on 15 turnovers in the opening half.

SuperSonics 105, Hawks 83

FG FT Reb ATLANTA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Augmon 24 5-10 1-2 1-3 0 1 11 Long 34 3-5 4-8 1-6 2 1 10 Lang 30 2-9 2-2 3-7 0 3 6 Blaylock 35 6-17 0-0 1-4 2 2 13 Smith 37 4-11 3-3 1-4 3 1 12 Corbin 20 2-9 1-1 1-5 0 2 5 Ehlo 15 6-8 0-0 0-2 2 1 15 Norman 14 2-5 0-0 1-4 0 2 4 Anderson 18 1-3 1-5 0-1 0 1 3 Whatley 13 1-2 2-2 0-2 5 2 4 Totals 240 32-79 14-23 9-38 14 16 83

Percentages: FG .405, FT .609.

3-Point Goals: 5-20, .250 (Ehlo 3-3, Smith 1-6, Blaylock 1-8, Long 0-1, Norman 0-1, Whatley 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 5 (Lang 2, Smith 2, Anderson).

Turnovers: 20 (Norman 5, Augmon 4, Blaylock 4, Whatley 2, Lang 2, Smith, Corbin, team).

Steals: 15 (Augmon 3, Long 3, Blaylock 3, Smith 2, Whatley 2, Corbin, Ehlo).

Technical foul: Blaylock, 3:37 first.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 32 9-15 3-4 4-18 4 4 21 Schrempf 34 6-9 2-2 0-3 5 4 16 Johnson 19 0-3 0-0 1-7 0 3 0 Marciulionis 31 4-7 1-2 0-1 2 4 11 Payton 39 10-21 1-2 1-3 6 2 21 Gill 29 4-14 0-0 5-6 0 2 9 McMillan 27 3-5 0-0 1-4 6 5 8 Perkins 24 5-7 1-1 0-6 1 1 14 Houston 3 1-3 2-4 0-0 0 1 5 Scheffler 2 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 0 0 Totals 240 42-84 10-15 14-50 25 26 105

Percentages: FG .500, FT .667.

3-Point Goals: 11-20, .550 (Perkins 3-5, Marciulionis 2-2, Schrempf 2-3, McMillan 2-3, Gill 1-2, Houston 1-3, Payton 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 4 (Kemp 2, Gill, McMillan).

Turnovers: 22 (Payton 4, Kemp 3, Schrempf 3, Perkins 3, Johnson 2, Marciulionis 2, Gill 2, McMillan 2, Houston).

Steals: 13 (Payton 4, McMillan 3, Gill 2, Marciulionis 2, Kemp, Perkins).

Technical foul: illegal defense, 11:40 third.

Illegal defense: 1. Atlanta 13 20 26 24 - 83 Seattle 33 27 19 26 - 105

A-17,368 (16,296). T-2:00.