Kemp Has Way Against Spurs

Shawn Kemp has been dominating just about everybody lately. On Wednesday night, it was the Spurs’ turn.

Kemp had 30 points and 16 rebounds to rally the Seattle SuperSonics to an 88-83 win over San Antonio.

“Shawn Kemp is playing as good as anybody right now,” said Seattle coach George Karl.

After trailing most of the game, the Sonics put together a 16-2 run that turned a seven-point fourthquarter deficit into an 84-77 lead.

“It was like that all night long - even in the first half, when we were leading and playing well, we were a step behind,” said Spurs coach Bob Hill, whose team lost its third straight. “There was no emotion.”

Seattle got 20 points from Sam Perkins and 14 from Gary Payton.

San Antonio was led by David Robinson’s 23 points, while Sean Elliott and Avery Johnson added 12 apiece. Johnson also had 12 assists.

The Spurs tied their season high for turnovers with 18, and were outrebounded 42-38.

Trailing 75-68 with 7:35 to play in the game, Seattle went on a 9-0 run to pull ahead 77-75 on a layup by Payton with 4:49 remaining. It was Seattle’s first lead since early in the first quarter.

Following a basket by Robinson that tied the score 77-77, Kemp answered with back-to-back baskets and Perkins nailed a 3-point shot to give Seattle an 84-77 lead with 2:39 to play.

“It was one of those games where you wanted to stay close and give yourself a chance to win it,” Karl said. “We did.”

San Antonio could get no closer than two points the rest of the way. Doc Rivers’ 3 brought San Antonio to 85-83 with 17.9 seconds left. Seattle converted on four free throws to seal the win.

SuperSonics 88, Spurs 83

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Askew 38 2-6 2-3 1-2 5 4 6 Kemp 40 11-12 8-10 6-16 1 5 30 Perkins 39 7-21 1-2 1-11 2 4 20 Hawkins 32 3-7 0-0 0-3 4 1 7 Payton 40 6-10 2-2 0-4 8 4 14 Wingate 20 4-8 0-0 0-2 1 2 9 E.Johnson 15 0-0 0-0 0-3 0 2 0 Ford 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Snow 12 1-5 0-0 1-1 1 0 2 Totals 240 34-70 13-17 9-42 22 24 88

Percentages: FG .486, FT .765.

3-Point Goals: 7-21, .333 (Perkins 5-12, Wingate 1-1, Hawkins 1-3, Ford 0-1, Payton 0-1, Askew 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 3 (Kemp 3).

Turnovers: 25 (Kemp 7, Perkins 5, Payton 5, Wingate 3, Hawkins 2, Askew 2, E.Johnson).

Steals: 12 (Payton 3, Askew 3, Perkins 2, Kemp, Wingate, Ford, Snow).

Technical foul: Askew, 9:42 fourth.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SAN ANTONIO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Elliotti 38 3-13 5-6 0-5 1 2 12 Anderson 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Robinson 36 11-22 1-3 6-12 1 4 23 Del Negro 34 5-10 1-2 0-2 4 1 11 A.Johnson 43 5-11 2-2 0-1 12 1 12 Reid 26 2-7 0-0 1-2 0 2 4 Person 14 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 2 3 Perdue 27 4-8 2-5 5-14 4 2 10 Rivers 18 3-9 0-0 0-0 1 4 8 Totals 240 34-83 11-18 12-38 23 20 83

Percentages: FG .410, FT .611.

3-Point Goals: 4-18, .222 (Rivers 2-6, Person 1-3, Elliott 1-6, Robinson 0-1, Del Negro 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 5 (Perdue 3, Anderson, A.Johnson).

Turnovers: 18 (Elliott 5, Del Negro 3, A.Johnson 3, Robinson 2, Reid 2, Rivers 2, Perdue).

Steals: 15 (A.Johnson 4, Rivers 3, Del Negro 3, Elliott 2, Perdue 2, Robinson).

Technical foul: A.Johnson, 10:03 fourth.

Illegal defense: None. Seattle 19 18 26 25 - 88 San Antonio 25 19 25 14 - 83

A-13,645 (35,888). T-2:09.

Officials-Bob Delaney, Dan Crawford, Kevin Fehr.