Sonics Get 39 In First Quarter, Leave Philadelphia Behind

Seattle got off to a quick start Tuesday night, but Shawn Kemp said it mattered more that the SuperSonics defense kept the Philadelphia 76ers from catching up.

“Our defense was the important thing tonight,” said Kemp, who had 29 points and 12 rebounds in Seattle’s 115-107 victory.

Kemp hit his first 10 shots.

“We scored a lot of points early, which made it a lot easier for us later in the game,” he said. “And our defense made our offense tonight. We got a little sloppy at the end, but had enough to get us over the hump.”

Hersey Hawkins had 21 points and Gary Payton added 19 points and 11 assists for the Sonics, who have now won six straight against Philadelphia. Philadelphia’s last victory was on Dec. 9, 1992.

“We were pretty effective on defense,” said Seattle coach George Karl. “Kemp and Payton got our transition game going, especially early in the game.”

Seattle’s 39 first-quarter points were the team’s highest total for a quarter this season.

“We gave them an awful lot of easy baskets,” Philadelphia coach John Lucas said. “They got off to that big start and we had a hard time recovering.”

Jerry Stackhouse had 27 points, including 14 in the final period, for the 76ers, while Vernon Maxwell added 24 points.

“I didn’t see too many positive things tonight,” Lucas said. “The only positive thing came when the game was over.”

Seattle took a 102-85 lead with 7:49 to play before Stackhouse and Sharone Wright led Philadelphia on a 18-6 spurt. A jump shot by Derrick Alston with 3 minutes to go cut Seattle’s lead to 106-101.

But Kemp made a slam dunk, and after Stackhouse’s free throw, the Sonics scored five straight points, four by Payton, to secure the victory.

Seattle, led by Kemp’s 9-for-9 first-half shooting, took a 38-27 lead at 2:07 of the second quarter and held a 67-56 lead at halftime, paced by Kemp’s 19 points.

Sam Perkins came off the bench to score 11 points and get 12 rebounds for Seattle, while Detlef Schrempf and Vincent Askew each had 12 points. Richard Dumas had 17 points for Philadelphia.

SuperSonics 115, 76ers 107

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 41 6-17 0-0 2-7 8 4 12 Kemp 34 12-16 5-8 7-12 3 4 29 Johnson 12 3-5 1-1 1-7 1 4 7 Hawkins 36 9-19 0-0 1-3 1 2 21 Payton 38 8-18 2-2 3-5 11 4 19 Perkins 33 4-13 1-2 1-12 2 1 11 Askew 22 4-8 3-4 1-2 2 3 12 Brickowski 14 2-3 0-0 1-3 1 3 4 Snow 5 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 0 0 Wingate 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Totals 240 48-102 12-17 18-53 31 25 115

Percentages: FG .471, FT .706.

3-Point Goals: 7-27, .259 (Hawkins 2-3, Perkins 2-6, Askew 1-3, Payton 1-4, Schrempf 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 12.

Blocked shots: 5 (Kemp 5).

Turnovers: 20 (Perkins 8, Payton 5, Kemp 2, Askew 2, Schrempf, Johnson, Brickowski).

Steals: 19 (Payton 6, Hawkins 5, Kemp 3, Perkins 3, Askew, Brickowski).

Technical fouls: Payton, 3:32 first; Kemp, 4:15 second.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb PHILADELPHIA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Dumas 37 5-13 7-8 4-9 4 2 17 Wright 17 5-8 1-5 0-5 1 1 11 Bradley 33 5-11 2-2 3-7 1 2 12 Stackhouse 37 8-17 8-12 1-6 4 1 27 Maxwell 42 8-21 5-7 1-5 8 3 24 Williams 26 2-5 2-2 3-6 3 2 6 Bennett 3 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Malone 14 1-6 1-1 1-3 0 0 3 Perry 20 2-4 1-1 1-3 2 2 5 Alston 8 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 Graham 3 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 1 0 Totals 240 37-89 27-38 14-47 25 15 107

Percentages: FG .416, FT .711.

3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Stackhouse 3-7, Maxwell 3-10, Dumas 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 9 (Wright 3, Bradley 3, Williams 2, Alston).

Turnovers: 20 (Bradley 5, Stackhouse 5, Wright 3, Maxwell 3, Dumas, Williams, Perry, Alston).

Steals: 10 (Dumas 2, Bradley 2, Maxwell 2, Perry 2, Stackhouse, Williams).

Technical foul: Maxwell, 3:32 first.

Illegal defense: None.

Seattle 39 28 28 20 - 115

Philadelphia 29 27 25 26 - 107

A-10,098 (18,168). T-2:08.