Kemp Keys Sonics’ Win

Shawn Kemp wowed a Key Arena crowd with his aerial acrobatics, but he and the Seattle SuperSonics won their home opener with defense.

The Sonics held the Los Angeles Lakers to a franchise-low 24 baskets as they defeated the Lakers 103-89 before a capacity crowd of 17,102 in the new building.

“It wasn’t the prettiest basketball game, but our team came back with a great defensive effort,” Sonics coach George Karl said.

The Sonics allowed 112 points in a loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday.

Kemp’s aggressive play got him into early foul trouble. That aggressive play also set the tone for the strong defensive effort against the Lakers, who ousted Seattle in the first round of the playoffs earlier this year.

The Lakers eliminated the Sonics in four games and also won last year’s regular-season series 4-1.

“Last year the Lakers gained confidence against us by beating us early in the season,” Kemp said. “This win was important in that respect.”

The three-time All-Star finished with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting and had 13 rebounds in 30 minutes.

“The loss to Utah was so disappointing. It was great to get out and play right away.”

Karl said the Sonics need Kemp to play more than 30 minutes a game.

“I think Shawn has to learn to play with fouls a little bit more,” he said.

The Sonics kept the Lakers off-balance with their tenacious play. The Lakers made 10 of 35 shots in the opening half and didn’t get much better.

Vlade Divac scored two points in 22 minutes and was 0 of 4 from the field. The 7-foot-1 center was also assessed a technical foul.

“The shots were there, but we didn’t hit them,” Divac said. “Then we got frustrated.”

No Laker was more frustrated than Nick Van Exel. The Lakers point guard managed just six points. He was called for two technical fouls by substitute official Leon Wood and ejected with 7:04 remaining in the game.

Hersey Hawkins scored 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting in his first home start. The career 17-point scorer helped the Sonics break the game open with seven points in a 17-8 spurt as Seattle took a 73-59 lead late in the third quarter.

The Lakers got to within nine points several times in the fourth quarter, but made no serious run.

“I think collectively we have to rebound and play defense. That was the case in the third quarter,” Hawkins said.

SuperSonics 103, Lakers 89

FG FT Reb L.A. LAKERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Campbell 39 8-14 8-8 4-14 0 5 24 Lynch 26 3-9 2-2 1-4 2 2 9 Divac 22 0-4 2-4 0-3 1 2 2 Ceballos 41 3-12 12-12 0-2 0 1 19 Van Exel 32 0-6 6-10 0-0 2 2 6 Miller 15 3-4 0-0 3-4 0 4 6 Blount 15 0-1 0-0 3-6 1 3 0 Threatt 31 5-14 3-4 2-4 2 3 14 Roberts 6 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2 Strong 9 1-1 2-2 0-1 0 0 4 King 4 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 3 Totals 240 24-66 38-45 13-38 8 23 89

Percentages: FG .364, FT .844.

3-Point Goals: 3-13, .231 (Lynch 1-1, Threatt 1-3, Ceballos 1-7, Van Exel 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 9

Blocked shots: 2 (Campbell 2).

Turnovers: 17 (Divac 5, Threatt 4, Campbell 2, Van Exel 2, Ceballos, Miller, King, Team).

Steals: 4 (Campbell, Lynch, Ceballos, Blount). Technical fouls: Divac, 11:57 third; Van Exel, 2, 7:04 fourth.Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 30 9-13 5-7 7-13 0 5 23 Schrempf 37 2-11 7-9 0-6 5 5 12 Johnson 18 4-8 2-4 3-7 2 5 10 Hawkins 28 4-10 2-2 0-5 3 2 11 Payton 39 7-14 0-0 1-2 7 3 15 Askew 23 3-7 0-2 1-1 1 5 7 Perkins 30 5-9 5-7 3-6 1 4 18 Brickowski 17 2-5 0-2 0-1 1 5 5 Snow 12 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 Wingate 4 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Scheffler 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ford 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 240 37-82 21-33 15-41 22 35 103

Percentages: FG .451, FT .636.

3-Point Goals: 8-18, .444 (Perkins 3-4, Askew 1-1, Brickowski 1-2, Payton 1-3, Hawkins 1-4, Schrempf 1-4).

Team Rebounds: 18

Blocked shots: 2 (Payton, Brickowski).

Turnovers: 12 (Kemp 4, Perkins 3, Snow 2, Payton, Johnson, Team).

Steals: 7 (Kemp 2, Payton 2, Snow 2, Schrempf). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: None. Los Angeles 26 16 23 24 - 89 Seattle 27 22 29 25 - 103

A-17,102 (N/A). T-2:20.