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Solid Defense Lifts Sonics Past Nuggets

Associated Press

Seattle used its defense to beat the Denver Nuggets for the fourth time in a row.

Detlef Schrempf scored 35 points and had eight rebounds as the Seattle SuperSonics kept the Denver Nuggets winless with a 122-117 victory Wednesday night.

Shawn Kemp added 27 points and Gary Payton had 24 points and 10 assists for the Sonics.

“Shawn and Gary were strong and played great,” Seattle coach George Karl said. “Our offense played great and we executed well, especially in the fourth quarter.”

Schrempf scored nine of his points in the final 2 minutes, including a 3 with 52 seconds left to give Seattle a 118-113 lead. Dale Ellis hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 118-117, but Schrempf hit two free throws to give Seattle a 120-117 edge.

Bryant Stith’s 3-point attempt fell short with 6 seconds left and Vincent Askew hit two free throws for Seattle to put the game out of reach. Denver dropped to 0-4 despite 28 points from Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

SuperSonics 122, Nuggets 117

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 43 11-16 10-10 5-8 3 4 35 Kemp 37 8-11 11-14 2-7 4 3 27 Johnson 14 1-4 0-0 1-2 0 3 2 Payton 38 9-20 6-7 0-5 10 3 24 Hawkins 35 4-9 2-3 0-1 1 4 13 Perkins 29 3-6 0-0 1-5 1 3 7 Askew 24 5-10 4-4 0-4 1 3 14 Brickowski 10 0-1 0-0 1-1 2 1 0 Snow 10 0-1 0-0 0-2 2 1 0 Totals 240 41-78 33-38 10-35 24 25 122

Percentages: FG .526, FT .868.

3-Point Goals: 7-17, .412 (Schrempf 3-5, Hawkins 3-5, Perkins 1-2, Payton 0-1, Brickowski 0-1, Askew 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 3 (Kemp 2, Perkins).

Turnovers: 13 (Payton 3, Hawkins 3, Schrempf 2, Kemp 2, Askew, Brickowski, Snow).

Steals: 6 (Hawkins 2, Schrempf, Johnson, Payton, Askew).

Technical foul: Illegal defense, 7:20 second.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb DENVER Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts McDyess 32 7-9 5-5 5-12 1 5 19 Williams 31 7-16 0-0 5-8 6 4 16 Mutombo 30 3-6 5-6 0-3 0 5 11 Abdul-Rauf 39 9-19 8-8 0-3 6 5 28 Rose 31 3-5 0-0 0-1 9 1 6 Hammonds 16 1-3 3-4 1-3 0 2 5 D.Ellis 20 3-6 2-2 0-1 1 3 9 Stith 24 4-11 5-5 2-4 3 3 13 MacLean 16 3-8 4-4 0-4 2 2 10 Spencer 1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Totals 240 40-83 32-34 13-40 28 30 117

Percentages: FG .482, FT .941.

3-Point Goals: 5-17, .294 (Abdul-Rauf 2-5, Williams 2-7, D.Ellis 1-2, Rose 0-1, Stith 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 7.

Blocked shots: 3 (McDyess, Williams, Mutombo).

Turnovers: 16 (McDyess 5, Mutombo 2, Abdul-Rauf 2, Rose 2, Hammonds 2, Williams, D.Ellis, Stith).

Steals: 10 (McDyess 2, Williams 2, Abdul-Rauf 2, Stith 2, MacLean 2).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 9:26 second; illegal defense, 11:43 third.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 31 29 30 32 - 122 Denver 35 26 29 27 - 117

A-17,171 (17,171). T-2:16.

Officials-Ed Clarke, Gary Zielinski.