Sonics Soar Behind Gill’s 34

Seattle needed a lift, and the SuperSonics got one from Kendall Gill.

Gill scored 15 of his career-high 34 points in the third quarter as the Sonics beat Minnesota 120-104 Wednesday night.

It was a badly needed win for Seattle, which had dropped three of its previous four games.

“We needed a win like this to get us back on track,” said Gill, who was 15 of 19 from the field and topped his previous high of 32 points, set in 1992 when he played for Charlotte.

“This was an emotional lift for us,” said Seattle forward Byron Houston. “Our moods have been down lately.”

Seattle led by 35 points twice, including 104-69 after three quarters, en route to its 15th straight victory over the Timberwolves.

“A game like this makes you want to retire,” said Tom Gugliotta, who scored only two points in 15 minutes in his second game for Minnesota since being acquired from Golden State.

Gill has had a season-long battle with Sonics coach George Karl over playing time and has been the subject of trade rumors. But one day before the trading deadline, Gill played the game of his career.

“There isn’t going to be any trade,” said Karl, who notched his 300th career NBA victory. “I like this team the way it is. Gill’s been very professional about the whole situation. It’s tough to play every night looking at USA Today and seeing your name on the trading block.”

Gill made eight consecutive field goals at one point.

“I haven’t felt that way in two or three years,” he said. “Everything was falling for me tonight and Nate (McMillan), Gary (Payton) and the rest of the guys kept feeding it to me in good position.”

Payton had 13 assists and 12 points, while Shawn Kemp added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Christian Laettner led Minnesota with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Doug West added 15 points for the Timberwolves.

The game featured two ejections. Seattle’s Sarunas Marciulionis was thrown out in the second period after arguing a charging foul, and Minnesota’s Isaiah Rider was ejected in the third period after arguing over a foul on Gill.

Gill scored 11 points in the first quarter on 5-of-6 shooting as Seattle built a 29-25 lead. The Sonics expanded their lead to 57-41 at halftime thanks to 10 second-quarter points by Kemp, who was held scoreless in the first quarter.

Gill played just 22 seconds in the second quarter after picking up his third foul. But his 15 points in the third quarter helped Seattle put the game away.

Trade deadline today

Seattle’s biggest problem has been the inside play of their big men. But with the trade deadline today at 6 p.m.(ET), it is doubtful they will attempt anything major.

“Sure it was an issue in the playoffs last year,” Sonics president Wally Walker said. “Individually, I think we’re a pretty good rebounding team. We just think there’s no reason to do anything major.”

Sonics 120, Timberwolves 104

FG FT Reb

MINNESOTA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Laettner 34 7-16 4-5 2-7 6 1 18 West 37 4-11 7-8 1-4 1 4 15 Shackleford 19 3-4 4-4 1-5 0 3 10 Rider 31 6-16 2-4 0-3 5 2 14 Smith 27 3-4 1-2 1-1 0 3 10 Gugliotta 15 1-2 0-0 0-1 2 5 2 Durham 18 2-7 3-4 2-7 1 5 7 Martin 21 2-8 4-4 0-1 6 0 9 Foster 25 2-4 6-6 0-4 1 2 10 Brown 13 3-3 3-3 1-2 0 2 9 Totals 240 33-75 34-40 8-35 22 27 104 Percentages: FG .440, FT .850.

3-Point Goals: 4-11, .364 (Smith 3-4, Martin 1-2, Gugliotta 0-1, Durham 0-1, Foster 0-1, Rider 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 12.

Blocked shots: 5 (Smith 2, Gugliotta, Durham, Foster).

Turnovers: 18 (Smith 5, Foster 3, Laettner 2, West 2, Rider 2, Martin 2, Durham, Brown).

Steals: 9 (Gugliotta 2, Rider 2, Shackleford 2, Laettner, Smith, Martin).

Technical fouls: Rider, 1:50 3rd; illegal defense, :22 1st.

Ejections: Rider,1:50 3rd.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb

SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 31 6-11 7-8 4-13 2 5 20 Schrempf 27 5-8 5-7 0-0 3 3 17 Perkins 27 5-9 1-2 0-5 0 1 14 Gill 31 15-19 1-1 0-2 2 5 34 Payton 35 4-10 3-4 2-4 13 1 12 McMillan 27 2-2 0-0 0-1 3 2 4 Askew 21 3-5 2-3 0-0 6 5 8 Marciulionis 5 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 3 3 Houston 20 2-7 3-4 0-2 0 3 8 Johnson 12 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 3 0 Wingfield 4 0-4 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 Totals 240 43-79 23-30 7-31 30 31 120

Percentages: FG .544, FT .767.

3-Point Goals: 11-19, .579 (Gill 3-4, Perkins 3-6, Schrempf 2-4, Kemp 1-1, Payton 1-1, Houston 1-2, Askew 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 5 (McMillan 3, Schrempf, Houston).

Turnovers: 17 (Kemp 3, Gill 3, Payton 3, Askew 3, McMillan 2, Johnson 2, Marciulionis).

Steals: 12 (Schrempf 4, McMillan 3, Payton 2, Gill 2, Marciulionis).

Technical fouls: Marciulionis, 7:04 2nd; illegal defense, 4:53 1st; illegal defense, 11:10 4th.

Ejections: Marciulionis, 7:04 2nd..

Illegal defense: 1.

Minnesota 25 16 28 35 - 104 Seattle 29 28 47 16 - 12 A-13,012 (16,296). T-2:10.

Officials-Jack Nies, Ed Middleton, Mike Callahan.