Sonics Hammer Raptors

Oliver Miller picked up a chair and threatened to throw it at the officials at halftime.

“Losing him hurt them big time,” Seattle’s Shawn Kemp said after scoring 21 points to lead the SuperSonics to a 119-89 victory over Toronto Tuesday night.

A furious Miller picked up a chair and was ready to heave it on the court when he was dragged away by teammates into the dressing room. He was upset after being ejected by replacement referee Michael Krom.

“I think he was just frustrated because of what he thought was the lack of fouls being called,” Kemp said. “He really hurt us with his 15-foot jump shot the first time.”

Miller scored 23 points in the expansion Raptors’ 102-97 win over Seattle Nov. 21 in the SkyDome. In the teams’ second meeting, Miller had nine.

After the game, he wasn’t talking to reporters.

“You aren’t going to get me to say anything in front of these folks,” he told teammate John Salley as the media encircled him in the dressing room for a comment on the halftime incident.

“I can’t say anything on the officiating or the ejection,” Toronto coach Brendan Malone said. “But Oliver’s absence hurt our inside attack. We lost a scorer and a shot-blocker.”

Tracy Murray led the Raptors with 23 points, including 16 in the opening quarter when he sank 4 of 4 3-pointers. But Toronto stayed close for only one quarter. Seattle led 29-28 after the first period.

Miller was upset after being blocked by Kemp in the final 10 seconds of the first half. He thought Kemp fouled him.

“I didn’t foul him,” Kemp said. “It was a clean block.”

Kemp took a Gary Payton pass and scored on a finger-roll with 5.3 seconds left and then got back on defense to block Damon Stoudamire as time ran out.

As the half ended, Miller was called for a technical foul for arguing too strongly and then was ejected. Upon hearing he was gone, he picked up a chair in press row. Before he could do anything, he was led away by other Raptors.

Without Miller in the middle in the third quarter, the Sonics had their way and led 71-50 after a pair of Kemp free throws with 4:08 gone in the period.

McMillan on injured list

The Sonics placed Nate McMillan on the injured list and activated Steve Scheffler. McMillan missed the first 10 games of the season after surgery on his left ankle.

SuperSonics 119, Raptors 89

FG FT Reb TORONTO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Anderson 6 0-3 0-0 0-0 2 2 0 Pinckney 17 0-3 2-2 1-3 0 3 2 Miller 20 4-9 1-1 2-5 0 1 9 Robertson 32 4-9 1-2 2-5 5 4 9 Stoudamire 30 3-10 3-4 2-3 5 2 10 Murray 31 9-14 0-4 0-3 1 2 23 Salley 14 1-3 0-0 2-2 1 3 2 Esposito 18 2-5 2-4 0-2 1 3 7 King 22 3-7 0-0 2-4 1 4 6 Rogers 21 3-6 3-5 1-3 2 2 10 Tabak 20 3-9 0-0 2-5 0 4 6 Earl 9 2-5 1-2 0-0 0 1 5 Totals 240 34-83 13-24 14-35 18 31 89

Percentages: FG .410, FT .542. 3-Point Goals: 8-17, .471 (Murray 5-6, Stoudamire 1-2, Rogers 1-2, Esposito 1-4, Anderson 0-1, Robretson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 14. Blocked shots: 1 (Miller). Turnovers: 27 (Esposito 6, Rogers 4, Miller 3, Robertson 3, Stoudamire 2, Murray 2, King 2, Tabak 2, Pinckney, Earl, team). Steals: 9 (Robertson 3, Pinckney 2, Stoudamire, Murray, Esposito, Rogers). Technical fouls: Miller, 0:00 second; Rogers, 11:48 fourth.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 28 6-8 9-12 1-9 0 3 21 Schrempf 28 5-8 4-4 1-3 3 4 14 Brickowski 15 1-2 0-0 1-3 2 3 2 Hawkins 23 5-7 5-5 0-1 2 1 16 Payton 31 7-16 3-3 1-5 9 1 18 Johnson 24 4-8 2-2 2-9 2 1 10 Askew 11 1-1 1-4 0-1 1 0 3 Perkins 18 5-10 2-2 3-5 1 3 14 Wingate 24 3-7 0-1 2-2 2 1 6 Scheffler 11 1-3 1-2 0-2 0 2 3 Snow 16 2-3 2-4 1-2 4 2 6 Ford 11 1-6 4-4 2-4 0 0 6 Totals 240 41-79 33-43 14-46 26 21 119

Percentages: FG .519, FT .767. 3-Point Goals: 4-16, .250 (Perkins 2-4, Hawkins 1-2, Payton 1-3, Brickowski 0-1, Scheffler 0-2, Ford 0-4). Team Rebounds: 13. Blocked shots: 7 (Kemp 4, Johnson 2, Ford). Turnovers: 20 (Payton 4, Kemp 3, Wingate 3, Schrempf 2, Hawkins 2, Snow 2, Brickowski, Johnson, Perkins, Scheffler). Steals: 15 (Snow 3, Brickowski 2, Hawkins 2, Perkins 2, Ford 2, Kemp, Payton, Johnson, Wingate). Technical fouls: Brickowski, 6:25 first; Illegal defense 11:19 second; Payton, :57 second; 9:17 third; Perkins, 7:43 fourth; 2:06 fourth. Toronto 28 15 23 23 - 89 Seattle 29 27 39 24 - 119