Kings End Sonics’ Bid For Pacific Title

The Sacramento Kings did themselves a great favor Friday night while the Seattle Sonics did themselves in.

The Kings took a 105-97 win, ruining Seattle’s bid for a second straight Pacific Division title.

The Kings pulled within a half-game of the idle Denver Nuggets in the race for the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. No matter what the Nuggets do today at Golden State, the Kings can make the playoffs by winning Sunday’s showdown at Denver.

Seattle, which got 26 points and a season-high 10 assists from Detlef Schrempf, cannot catch Phoenix for the Pacific Division crown.

Phoenix won Friday night and holds a one-game lead over the Sonics. Even if Seattle wins Sunday at Phoenix, the Suns would win the title because they have clinched the season series against the Sonics.

“I don’t think that really makes any difference. What’s disappointing is the way we played tonight,” said Seattle’s Nate McMillan. “We didn’t look into the game. We looked sluggish, tired, not reacting to situations. We just weren’t aggressive.”

Kings coach Garry St. Jean agreed that aggressiveness was critical for the Kings, who outrebounded the Sonics 44-32.

“The key was, they did not make us tentative,” he said. “We stayed in an aggressive mode.”

The Sonics stayed in the game by hitting 7 of 17 3-pointers against the team that’s best in the NBA this season at defending the 3-point shot. Schrempf, the league’s top shooter from behind the arc this season, hit three of his four 3-pointers.

It was just the fifth loss in 23 games for Seattle, which got 24 points from Shawn Kemp.

Kings 105, SuperSonics 97

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 42 8-18 7-8 2-6 10 4 26 Kemp 37 11-18 2-2 4-7 3 5 24 Johnson 11 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 3 0 Gill 27 2-8 1-2 0-5 4 4 5 Payton 41 7-11 2-5 0-1 5 5 17 Perkins 31 4-8 2-2 2-6 0 2 12 McMillan 23 1-3 0-1 2-3 2 5 2 Askew 21 3-9 0-0 1-2 1 4 6 Marciulionis 7 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 5 Totals 240 38-80 14-20 12-32 25 33 97

Percentages: FG .475, FT .700.

3-Point Goals: 7-17, .412 (Schrempf 3-4, Perkins 2-5, Payton 1-2, Marciulionis 1-2, McMilln 0-2, Askew 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 5 (Kemp 3, Perkins 2).

Turnovers: 15 (Johnson 3, Perkins 3, McMillan 3, Askew 3, Shrempf, Kemp, Payton). Steals: 11 (McMillan 3, Schrempf 2, Kemp, Gill, PAyton, Perkins, Askew, Marciulionis).

Technical fouls: Coach Karl, 7:08 2nd. Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SACRAMENTO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Grant 32 2-6 8-12 1-9 3 3 12 Williams 37 6-13 14-17 1-6 3 2 27 Polynice 33 7-10 1-4 6-14 1 4 15 Webb 39 4-10 4-4 1-3 3 2 14 Richmond 44 9-13 6-7 1-4 6 3 25 Smith 28 3-5 1-5 2-6 1 3 7 Brown 24 1-4 3-4 1-2 4 4 5 Turner 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Phelps 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lee 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 32-61 37-53 13-44 21 21 105

Percentages: FG .525, FT .698.

3-Point Goals: 4-9, .444 (Webb 2-4, Richmond 1-2, Williams 1-2, Brown 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 12. Blocked shots: 2 (Williams, Smith).

Turnovers: 16 (Williams 5, Grant 3, Brown 3, Webb 2, Richmond 2, Smith). Steals: 11 (Brown 5, Smith 2, Grant, Williams, Webb, Richmond). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: None. Seattle 19 28 27 23 - 97 Sacramento 22 31 30 22 - 105

A-17,317 (17,317). T-2:16.

Officials-Paul Mahalik, Bill Spooner, Gary Benson.