Supersonics March By 3s Schrempf-Led Seattle Drops Long Bombs On Detroit

These days, Seattle SuperSonics coach George Karl has been seen shaking his head in disbelief more and more frequently.

But no, it’s not in the bad sense.

It’s in awe of forward Detlef Schrempf.

“Detlef is unbelievable; the guy is playing close to perfect basketball,” Karl said. “He doesn’t make mistakes offensively. He doesn’t make mistakes defensively. The only thing I can probably yell at him for is rebounding, but I can yell at everybody about that. When he shoots it now, it’s like automatic.”

Well, almost. Saturday afternoon, 17,326 spectators poured into the Tacoma Dome to watch the Sonics demolish the Detroit Pistons, 133-110, as Schrempf scored 25 points to share scoring honors with Gary Payton.

Schrempf sank all four of his 3-point attempts to raise his NBAleading percentage to 60.5, swished all three free throws, improving his percentage there to 84.3, but did miss a field-goal attempt - going just 9 for 10 from the field.

“I got fouled,” Schrempf quipped.

But in all seriousness, the 6-foot10 former Washington Huskies star is playing at a new level, as eight assists and six rebounds will attest.

“He’s not making many mistakes,” Pistons coach Don Chaney said. “He presents a lot of problems because he’s a big guy who can take it inside or shoot it outside.”

He led the Sonics (44-19) to their fifth win in a row, while the Pistons (23-41) dropped their fifth straight.

Shawn Kemp added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Sonics, while Sam Perkins came off the bench to scored 17 points. Vince Askew and Nate McMillan contributed 12 each, and Kendall Gill tossed in 10 points in his first game after missing three with a bruised rib.

The Sonics sank a franchiserecord 14 from 3-point range, led by Schrempf. McMillan and Perkins each sank three, Gill swished a pair, and Payton and Byron Houston added one apiece.

“We just all got on a roll,” said McMillan, who added a game-high nine assists. “We wanted to jump on them early. We got the big lead, but we didn’t quite keep it where we wanted.”

The Pistons sliced a 27-point lead to 10 midway through the third quarter. Then the Sonics put them away with a burst that began with a pair of 3s from McMillan and ended with two by Schrempf.

“I was just feeling it and the ball is coming to me in good spots,” Schrempf said. “Just as long as they keep dropping, it’s fine.”

The Sonics frustrated the Pistons into 10 turnovers that produced 16 points. The result was a relatively easy 66-51 lead at intermission. After the Sonics’ 40-point road victory last Sunday over the Pistons, Payton continued his personal battle with the equally garrulous Lindsey Hunter, who held his own with 24 points Saturday.

“The problem is,” Hunter said, “you just can’t fall behind 20 points to a team that good and expect to win.”

While Hunter did manage 12 points in the first half, Payton had 19 - including an outrageous 360-degree spin move for a layup. And then there was the Kemp dunkfest, including one missed slam that bounced straight up in the air. He had to outjump everybody for the rebound - and put the next one down.

Meanwhile, Grant Hill was saddled with three fouls, Joe Dumars did not play for the third consecutive game after banging heads with Kemp last week and suffering a concussion. And Terry Mills wasn’t dressed either, out with a sore heel.

Five minutes into the third quarter, the Sonics’ lead had ballooned to 26. Then it was time for a little give-and-take. They gave the game back to the Pistons for awhile. With Hunter, Allan Houston and Rafael Addison dropping jumpers from everywhere, the Pistons closed to 10 with 6:30 left in the game.

The crowd got antsy. The players did, too. Kemp had five fouls at that point and Payton four.

Both were on the bench. Both came back. So long, Pistons.

“I thought we were getting ready to make a move,” Chaney said. “Then they made a great play or two and they’re back up there again. That’s the sign of greatness.”

It was Detroit’s 30th loss by 10 or more points, and 29th victory of 10 or more points by the Sonics.

SuperSonics 133, Pistons 110 FG FT Reb DETROIT Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Hill 36 5-15 6-9 0-3 2 3 16 Miller 33 4-7 1-2 5-10 3 2 9 West 16 3-4 1-2 1-2 0 1 7 A.Houston 32 4-15 8-10 0-0 1 2 17 Hunter 29 8-12 6-8 1-3 6 4 24 Knight 13 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 Addison 36 8-13 0-0 1-5 2 4 18 Newbill 17 1-4 0-0 4-5 0 3 2 Macon 26 3-7 9-9 2-3 2 2 15 Leckner 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 Totals 240 37-81 31-40 14-31 18 23 110 Percentages: FG .457, FT .775.

3-Point Goals: 5-16, .313 (Hunter 2-3, Addison 2-3, A.Houston 1-7, Macon 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 12.

Blocked shots: 8 (Miller 4, Hill 2, West, Hunter).

Turnovers: 16 (Hill 4, Hunter 4, Macon 3, Miller 2, A.Houston, Knight, Addison).

Steals: 13 (Macon 4, Hill 3, A.Houston 2, Miller, West, Hunter, Addison).

Technical foul: Addison, 4:03 second.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 29 8-16 4-4 5-11 4 5 20 Schrempf 34 9-10 3-3 3-6 8 2 25 Johnson 22 2-2 0-0 1-9 0 1 4 McMillan 27 4-7 1-2 0-1 9 5 12 Payton 36 11-22 2-2 1-5 7 4 25 Perkins 26 6-9 2-3 0-1 3 4 17 Askew 30 4-7 4-4 1-2 4 4 12 Gill 16 4-6 0-0 1-1 0 4 10 Marciulionis 17 0-3 3-4 0-0 1 3 3 Scheffler 2 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2 B.Houston 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 Totals 240 49-83 21-24 12-36 36 32 133

Percentages: FG .590, FT .875.

3-Point Goals: 14-26, .538 (Schrempf 4-4, Perkins 3-5, McMillan 3-5, Gill 2-3, B.Houston 1-1, Payton 1-5, Marciulionis 0-1, Askew 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 2 (Johnson 2).

Turnovers: 20 (Schrempf 4, Gill 3, Marciulionis 3, Askew 2, McMillan 2, Kemp 2 Johnson, Payton, Perkins, team).

Steals: 10 (Kemp 2, Payton 2, Askew 2, Schrempf, McMillan, Perkins, Gill).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None. Detroit 26 25 32 27 - 110 Seattle 36 30 32 35 - 133

A-17,326 (16,296). T-2:10.

Officials-Mike Mathis, Jim Clark, David Jones.