Kemp Will Be Ready When Grizzlies Pay Visit Two Days After Upset, Sonics Get Chance To Avenge Loss

Shawn Kemp was beset by chills, rubbery legs, a sour stomach and a nagging headache.

He wasted no time Tuesday night leaving the floor after the upstart expansion Vancouver Grizzlies pinned a 94-93 loss on the Sonics.

Yet the uproarious celebration by the Grizzlies didn’t escape him. Kemp sees them in his mind’s eye - running and jumping across the court, hugging and high-fiving.

That is the image “The Reign Man” carries with him when he steps onto the KeyArena court tonight when the Sonics and the Grizzlies renew their burgeoning rivalry.

“We’ll be ready,” Kemp said, firmly. “When a team celebrates like that, like they won a national championship, it makes you want to play better.”

Kemp’s preparation is nine parts sleep, a luxury he didn’t have while fighting the flu in the hours before the Sonics’ loss to the Grizzlies. After a rigorous practice Monday, he spent the evening in a Santa Claus suit, passing out presents to underprivileged children.

After an early flight to Vancouver, British Columbia, with his teammates, he practiced again, then retired to his sickbed for the afternoon.

Although Kemp needed a hot-water bottle to ward off the chills on the bench, and he was forced to leave the game at one point because of his weakened condition, his subpar 12-point, eight-rebound, six-turnover performance surprised him.

“Most of the time, when you’re sick, you play better because you have to concentrate more,” he said. “That’s what I was hoping for. I just had a bad night. I have no excuses.”

If the flu bug is no excuse - ailing fellow starter Sam Perkins also refused to use it as one - then how do the Sonics put this loss to an injury-riddled expansion team into perspective?

It will be remembered as an unpleasant, flu-ridden bump in the 82-game season, but only if a team tendency to play down to the competition doesn’t develop.

If it can be categorized with losses on the road to Detroit, Toronto and Dallas, it’s a problem.

If it’s a sign that the Sonics are not making special efforts in the absence of injured All-Star forward Detlef Schrempf, it’s a problem.

Point guard Gary Payton challenged his teammates to play as well without Schrempf as the Atlantic Division-leading Orlando Magic performed without Shaquille O’Neal.

But without Schrempf, who is hobbling around on crutches and devoting time to terminally ill children, the Sonics are 2-2. And they need to win five consecutive games in the next 10 days to reach coach George Karl’s goal of 20 wins by Jan. 1.

After a light practice Wednesday, which the bed-ridden Perkins did not attend, Karl said: “I don’t think we’re worried about our record. We’ve got to win the home games. Losing (Tuesday) night was not as bad a stub as losing a game at home. From my standpoint, we’re doing fine.”

Karl’s standpoint is a plus-minus system, in which the Sonics are a plus-five. They start with six points for six road wins and subtract one for a home loss. Home wins and road losses do not factor into the equation.

“It’s a disappointing loss,” Karl allowed. “You’ll have six or seven games you know you played better than you are and six or seven losses you know you played worse.”

The Sonics can avoid another “stub” with better rebounding and improved ballhandling. They were outrebounded 44-37, and they made 21 turnovers.