Payton Pick Saves Sonics At Charlotte

Gary Payton had 19 points, five assists and five rebounds Friday night - and one not-so-insignificant steal.

“It was clean,” Payton said of his strip of former Seattle teammate Kendall Gill in the closing seconds, a steal that preserved the SuperSonics’ 98-96 victory over Charlotte.

Dell Curry hit two 3-pointers to help the Hornets cut a nine-point deficit to two points with 27 seconds left. After Seattle’s Detlef Schrempf missed an 18-footer with 10 seconds to go, the Hornets got the rebound and hustled the ball down court to Gill, who tried to put up a 3-pointer with 3 seconds to go.

But Payton slapped the ball away, and time ran out as Charlotte coach Allan Bristow screamed for a foul that was not called.

Bristow dodged questions about the play after the game, and Gill, who was acquired by Charlotte in an off-season trade, shared Payton’s assessment.

“Gary made a good play at the end and got the ball from me,” Gill said.

Charlotte’s Larry Johnson had 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists to augment his strong defense, which held Shawn Kemp to 13 points.

But Payton was the difference as Seattle overcame Charlotte’s 53-42 rebounding advantage. The Hornets, whose total was 10 higher than their previous best this season, held the SuperSonics to 17 rebounds in the first half, including just one on the offensive end.

“The first half of the game, we might as well not have even been on the court. We had no rebounds and no sense for a commitment at that end of the court,” coach George Karl said. “It’s very frustrating. We’re not finishing plays by not rebounding the ball.”

Curry led the Hornets, who lost their third consecutive game and their first at home this season, with 20 points.

“We need to stick with each other. We just need time to gel,” Gill said. “If we keep working together, everything will turn around.”

A runner in the lane by Charlotte’s Khalid Reeves cut Seattle’s lead to 80-79 with 9:04 to play. But the Hornets did not get another field goal until Glen Rice’s 10-foot jumper at the 4:43 mark, a dry spell that allowed Seattle to build a 92-83 edge, its biggest lead to that point.

Kemp, who came in averaging 22.4 points, had just one basket in the first 32 minutes, and that was on a goaltending call. He wound up making 5 of 7 field goals, but led all players with 16 rebounds.

Seattle’s Frank Brickowski played 11 minutes and scored eight points even though he broke his nose during the pregame shootaround when he took an inadvertent forearm from teammate Steve Scheffler.

Sonics 98, Hornets 96

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Schrempf 40 4-9 6-7 1-6 1 3 14

Kemp 42 5-7 3-5 3-16 3 0 13

E.Johnson 15 2-4 2-4 2-3 0 2 6

Hawkins 36 3-10 7-8 0-5 2 4 15

Payton 46 9-19 1-3 0-5 5 2 19

Perkins 23 5-11 0-0 1-4 2 1 10

Askew 20 3-5 4-5 0-0 1 2 11

Wingate 7 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 2

Brickowski 11 2-3 4-6 1-3 1 4 8

Totals 240 34-72 27-38 8-42 15 18 98

Percentages: FG .472, FT .711.

3-Point Goals: 3-17, .176 (Hawkins 2-6, Askew 1-1, Payton 0-2, Schrempf 0-4, Perkins 0-4). Team Rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 3 (Kemp 2, Perkins). Turnovers: 13 (Payton 3, Kemp 2, Hawkins 2, Wingate 2, Schrempf, Johnson, Perkins, Brickowski). Steals: 7 (Kemp 3, Hawkins 2, Schrempf, Payton).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, second 11:30; Ilegal defense, 2:30 fourth; Brickowski, 7:28 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb CHARLOTTE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Hancock 15 2-2 2-2 1-3 0 2 6

L.Johnson 45 5-15 3-4 4-13 7 2 13

Parish 6 0-1 0-0 1-3 0 0 0 <

Rice 44 6-18 3-5 3-11 3 5 17

Gill 35 4-14 4-4 1-4 7 1 13

Zidek 27 5-11 1-1 3-9 1 3 11

Curry 29 7-14 2-2 1-4 3 3 20

Reeves 21 3-7 3-4 0-1 3 2 10

Geiger 17 3-5 0-0 3-5 1 6 6

Addison 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Totals 240 35-87 18-22 17-53 25 25 96

Percentages: FG .402, FT .818.

3-Point Goals: 8-27, .296 (Curry 4-10, Rice 2-8, Reeves 1-2, Gill 1-5, L.Johnson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 2 (Reeves, Geiger). Turnovers: 14 (L.Johnson 4, Rice 4, Gill 2, Hancock, Parish, Curry, Reeves). Steals: 5 (Rice 4, Gill).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 6:12 second; Illegal defense, 5:38 second; Coach Bristow, 0:00 third; Geiger, 7:28 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 18 32 25 23 - 98 Charlotte 23 31 19 23 - 96

A-24,042 (23,698). T-2:06.