Sorry, Kings: Mercy Has Limits

Maybe all of you knew it, but the Seattle SuperSonics had to prove it. And now they have.

They can beat Sacramento with one Kemp tied behind their backs.

Surely the only sporting thing now would be to spot the Kings a Kemp and a Payton for Game 2 of their first-round NBA playoff series on Sunday night and see if the drama improves - though given the events of the past two Mays, Seattle’s tank of sporting gestures and stomach for drama should both be running on empty.

Perhaps Greg Norman has 78s to spare, but the Sonics don’t.

Shawn Kemp’s brain cramp and forearam spasms the other day amount to all the mercy the Sonics can muster.

Charity bites.

So in Game 1 Friday night, the Sonics bit back, grinding the Kings without clemency for a quarter and then taking care the final three to send their suspended teammate a Hallmark to say he was missed and needed. In that regard, the 97-85 count in getting the jump in this best-of-five was just about perfect.

Banished from KeyArena and docked about $48,000 in fines and salary for getting Western with Tom Hammonds in the season finale at Denver last Sunday, Kemp pledged to watch the playoff opener on television.

Maybe. But if he couldn’t comprehend the consequences of a scuffle in a meaningless game on the eve of the playoffs, it’s a decent bet his attention span had him Hanging With Mr. Cooper come the fourth quarter Friday night.

His teammates, however, never stopped hanging with Mr. Richmond - a factor that had far more impact than Kemp’s absence, and hypothetically even his presence.

“You knew they were coming in here to steal one without Shawn (here),” said Sam Perkins, who started in Kemp’s place.

Echoed Hersey Hawkins, “If they were going to get any game, it was going to be this one.”

Instead, the Kings couldn’t even get the ball up court.

Let’s take a peek at Sacramento’s getaway: blocked shot, miss, miss, miss, turnover, turnover, turnover, jump ball-turnover, turnover, turnover, miss, turnover, turnover, layup, turnover, turnover. It was the flattest line this side of “ER.”

“We wanted to come out aggressive, jump on them, get them down and see if we could take away their confidence,” said Hawkins. “Maybe a team like this, without any playoff experience, could be rattled.”

Rattled? Like pebbles in a pop can.

No one seemed as rattled as Richmond, the recent Dream Team nominee, who was either staging a work slowdown to protest Kemp’s being left off the squad or was the victim of such a Sonics conspiracy.

Sacramento’s lone legitimate weapon, Richmond didn’t score until 3:20 into the second quarter - and required a remarkable spinning drive against a Nate McMillan-Ervin Johnson double team to do it.

By game’s end, he’d amassed 18 points, but half of those were from the foul line. He made just 4 of 13 shots and had seven of Sacramento’s 23 turnovers. Hawkins took the first shift against him, but there was plenty of relief - and help.

“You make him put it on the ground,” said Hawkins. “Always have somebody running at him. Make him make a decision. He had seven turnovers, so we must have done a good job of forcing him into trouble.”

Speaking of trouble, this is usually where the Sonics get into theirs. A couple of cautionary tales:

Seattle 106, Denver 82.

Seattle 96, Lakers 71.

Those are the Game 1s of the immediate past, and both were followed by swoons of Normanian proportions.

Of course, neither the Nuggets nor the Lakers of those years are today’s Kings. Those of us who suggested that the Sonics’ 64 regular-season victories meant nothing may have to wash our laptops out with soap, for they meant everything in terms of token opposition.

“Those two games, we came out last year and two years ago, we had our full team then, so there’s no comparison,” said Perkins. “There’s nothing to write about this year and those two years because it’s so different. Whatever negative things they say about first-game similarities, it’s not going to make any difference.”

One thing might. Kemp returns for Game 2 Sunday.

“Our guys know they can play better,” said Kings coach Garry St. Jean. “But they’re maybe going to be better - no maybes, they’re going to be a better team when Shawn Kemp steps on the floor.”

And they can prove that, too.

You can contact John Blanchette by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5509.

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