Payton Carries Sonics Past Clippers, 127-108

Gary Payton’s game has a lot of facets. Tuesday night, they all sparkled.

On defense, Payton made it a long night for Terry Dehere and the Los Angeles Clippers.

“Payton and his teammates started getting up on us defensively, and that’s what they do best,” Clippers center Brian Williams said after Dehere had four first-quarter turnovers in the Seattle SuperSonics’ 127-108 victory.

The Sonics defense kept the Clippers off balance and forced 20 turnovers, converting them into 28 points.

Payton scored 21 points, handed out nine assists and had five steals in the Sonics’ ninth straight victory over the Clippers.

Though impressed with his point guard’s overall game, Sonics coach George Karl said Payton’s passing is more important than his scoring.

“Even though he got a lot of numbers scoring-wise, his passing is pivotal to our success,” Karl said.

Clippers coach Bill Fitch also was impressed with the Sonics’ two-time All-Star point guard.

“He dishes out the sugar and gets his teammates involved early,” Fitch said. “He’s the kind of guy you’d like to have on any team.”

After starting the season with a victory over the Phoenix Suns, the Clippers have suffered two road losses.

“Turnovers, bad shots and bad defense. That is what’s killing us,” Fitch said.

The Sonics outscored the Clippers 38-25 in the second period for a 62-48 halftime lead. Payton had 15 points and six assists in the opening half.

Though he had a good night, Payton wasn’t overly impressed with his own performance.

“It could have been better,” Payton said. He was 9 for 15 from the field in 32 minutes.

The Sonics led 87-77 late in the third quarter. Then Sam Perkins supplied the key points in a decisive 14-4 run.

Perkins made two free throws and 3-pointer on a pass from Eric Snow for a 92-77 lead. LaMond Murray scored on a tip, but Vincent Askew’s two free throws made it 94-79 after three quarters.

Perkins opened the fourth quarter with another 3-point shot. Payton’s steal led to a Frank Brickowski basket and Perkins’ block led to a Payton layin for a 101-81 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

“We changed up our defense and it seemed to confuse them and made them think we were trapping,” Perkins said. “They didn’t know what to do.”

The Sonics led 107-83 midway through the fourth quarter before Karl cleared his bench.

On the ballot

The SuperSonics will be represented by five players on the 1996 NBA All-Star ballot.

Hersey Hawkins, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Sam Perkins and Detlef Schrempf are among the 100 players named Tuesday by the NBA to appear on the ballot.

The All-Star game will be played Feb. 11 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

SuperSonics 127, Clippers 108

FG FT Reb L.A. CLIPPERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Murray 39 8-15 5-5 4-9 1 3 21 Vaught 26 4-10 0-0 1-3 1 3 8 Williams 30 5-7 4-4 1-3 2 4 14 Dehere 29 4-9 0-0 1-2 4 2 11 Sealy 34 6-15 2-2 1-4 3 4 15 Barry 19 3-5 0-0 0-3 3 1 9 Rogers 27 2-10 5-6 2-7 3 3 9 Roberts 8 3-3 1-2 1-2 0 2 7 Piatkowski 16 3-7 4-4 0-2 0 2 12 Outlaw 10 0-0 0-2 1-3 0 4 0 Vander Velden 2 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 240 39-83 21-25 12-38 17 28 108

Percentages: FG .470, FT .840.

3-Point Goals: 9-20, .450 (Barry 3-4, Dehere 3-4, Piatkowski 2-4, Sealy 1-4, Williams 0-1, Murray 0-1, Rogers 0-2). Team Rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 8 (Roberts 3, Piatkowski, Outlaw, Rogers, Barry, Williams). Turnovers: 20 (Dehere 4, Barry 4, Sealy 3, Murray 2, Piatkowski 2, Outlaw 2, Rogers, Williams, Vaught). Steals: 10 (Vaught 3, Sealy 3, Murray, Dehere, Rogers, Outlaw). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 27 6-9 6-8 3-9 2 4 18 Schrempf 30 6-10 3-4 1-3 2 1 17 Johnson 25 3-5 1-1 1-5 0 5 7 Hawkins 29 3-7 1-2 0-2 0 1 7 Payton 32 9-15 2-2 1-4 9 1 21 Askew 19 2-3 2-2 1-5 2 0 6 Brickowski 14 4-6 2-3 0-2 1 2 10 Perkins 21 5-8 4-4 1-2 1 1 17 Snow 21 2-7 2-2 1-4 3 1 7 Wingate 10 0-4 4-4 2-4 1 2 4 Ford 6 3-7 1-1 0-0 0 1 9 Scheffler 6 2-3 0-2 2-2 0 2 4 Totals 240 45-84 28-35 13-42 21 21 127

Percentages: FG .536, FT .800.

3-Point Goals: 9-19, .474 (Perkins 3-4, Ford 2-4, Schrempf 2-4, Snow 1-1, Payton 1-4, Hawkins 0-2). Team Rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 4 (Johnson 2, Brickowski, Wingate). Turnovers: 16 (Hawkins 5, Payton 3, Schrempf 2, Kemp 2, Wingate 2, Askew, Brickowski). Steals: 15 (Payton 5, Perkins 3, Askew 2, Snow, Kemp, Schrempf, Johnson, Hawkins). Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 4:26 fourth; illegal defense, 2:42 fourth. Illegal defense: 1. L.A. Clippers 23 25 31 29 - 108 Seattle 24 38 32 33 - 127

A-17,102 (16,296). T-2:10.