Sonics, Payton Drub L.A. Seattle Scores 38 In Third Period Against Clippers

Gary Payton used the third quarter as a platform to showcase his impressive skills to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Payton had a hand in all 10 Seattle baskets in the quarter, leading the SuperSonics to a 102-86 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

Seattle outscored Los Angeles 38-11 in the third quarter to post its 14th consecutive victory over the Clippers.

Payton toyed with the Clippers’ guards in the third. The three-time All-Star was 3 for 4 from the field, had six assists and his steal started a fastbreak that led to Seattle’s other basket.

“When Gary gets going, then everybody just plays off that,” teammate Hersey Hawkins said.

Payton scored 10 points, Detlef Schrempf added nine and Hawkins eight in Seattle’s highest-scoring quarter of the season.

The Sonics used runs of 11-0 and 13-2 to take command in the period, while the Clippers missed 16 of 17 shots.

“It was pretty impressive,” Sonics coach George Karl said of his team’s performance in the third quarter. “Defense was the motivator and offense was real good.”

The Clippers led 51-48 at halftime. Payton sparked the sluggish Sonics in the second half. Seattle forced the Clippers into seven third-quarter turnovers and 5-of-19 shooting from the field.

“Gary energized us in the third quarter,” Schrempf said. “We tightened up our defense and got some steals and that got us going.”

With Shawn Kemp limited to seven points, Payton picked up the slack offensively with 24 points and Schrempf added 22.

“There was a stretch where it was just a landslide,” Clippers coach Bill Fitch said of the decisive period.

Malik Sealy led the Clippers with 22 points, 18 in the first half. He said the Clippers lost their poise against the defending Western Conference champions.

“We missed a couple of shots and we let that affect every part of our game,” Sealy said.

Sam Perkins’ two free throws gave Seattle its biggest lead at 92-66 with 8:55 left. The Clippers outscored Seattle’s reserves 20-10 the rest of the way.

After losing consecutive home games to Charlotte and Houston, the Sonics have beaten their last two opponents by a combined 56 points at home. Sealy scored 18 in the first half as the Clippers took a 51-48 lead.

Schrempf’s 3-pointer gave Seattle a 26-17 lead in the first quarter, but Sealy scored seven points during a 9-0 run that tied it at 26.

Notes

Thirty years ago, Seattle was awarded the 11th NBA franchise. There are 29 teams in the league now… . Sealy, who averages 13.8 points per game, scored 14 in the first quarter on 6-for-7 shooting… . Kemp, who averages 23 points per game, was 1 for 6 from the field in the first half… . Jim McIlvaine blocked five shots for Seattle… . Clippers guard Pooh Richardson sat out the game Friday with a sprained right ankle that also held him out of the loss Thursday night to Washington. Darrick Martin started in Richardson’s place… . The Sonics entered the game 4-6 in December.

SuperSonics 102, Clippers 86

FG FT Reb L.A. CLIPPERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Rogers 24 1-7 0-0 0-0 1 5 3 Vaught 38 3-8 0-0 3-8 0 4 6 Duckworth 14 1-4 0-0 2-5 0 4 2 Martin 25 5-13 3-3 0-1 6 3 15 Sealy 37 7-14 8-8 2-3 3 2 22 Wright 32 5-9 0-0 3-12 2 3 10 Dehere 23 6-8 0-0 0-0 3 3 14 Outlaw 21 3-6 0-0 1-3 0 1 6 Murray 15 1-5 3-5 0-2 2 2 5 Piatkowski 11 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 Totals 240 33-77 14-16 11-34 18 29 86

Percentages: FG .429, FT .875.

3-Point Goals: 6-13, .462 (Dehere 2-2, Martin 2-3, Piatkowski 1-2, Rogers 1-3, Sealy 0-1, Murray 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 2 (Rogers, Vaught).

Turnovers: 23 (Rogers 4, Dehere 4, Vaught 2, Martin 2, Sealy 2, Wright 2, Murray 2, Piatkowski 2, team 2, Outlaw).

Steals: 10 (Rogers 2, Outlaw 2, Murray 2, Vaught, Duckworth, Dehere, Piatkowski).

Technical fouls: illegal defense, :37.1 third.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 30 1-6 5-6 0-12 2 5 7 Schrempf 31 8-14 4-4 2-6 2 2 22 McIlvaine 23 2-2 0-0 1-4 1 1 4 Hawkins 25 4-10 4-4 1-2 1 3 13 Payton 34 9-14 4-5 3-5 11 3 24 Perkins 23 4-6 4-5 0-4 1 0 14 Snow 23 3-6 2-2 0-1 4 3 8 Ehlo 16 1-6 0-2 0-0 3 1 2 Wingate 14 1-1 0-0 0-1 1 3 2 Stewart 8 1-2 0-0 0-2 0 0 2 Scheffler 7 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 Graham 6 0-1 2-2 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 240 35-69 25-30 7-38 26 23 102

Percentages: FG .507, FT .833.

3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Perkins 2-3, Payton 2-4, Schrempf 2-5, Hawkins 1-4, Ehlo 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 8.

Blocked shots: 7 (McIlvaine 5, Kemp 2).

Turnovers: 21 (Kemp 4, Payton 3, Scheffler 3, McIlvaine 2, Snow 2, Wingate 2, Schrempf, Hawkins, Perkins, Graham, team).

Steals: 11 (Kemp 4, Payton 2, Schrempf, Hawkins, Snow, Stewart, Graham).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

L.A. Clippers 26 25 11 24 - 86

Seattle 29 19 38 16 - 102

A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:01.

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