No Kemp, No Problem Forward Ejected In Fourth, But Sonics Drill Pistons Anyway

Gary Payton scored 17 second-half points and Seattle held Detroit to 32 points in the final two periods as the SuperSonics won their 11th straight game Wednesday night, 94-80 over the Pistons.

It seems nothing can stop Seattle. Not even the ejection of Shawn Kemp.

The Sonics broke the game open without the services of Kemp, who was ejected by official Steve Javie for arguing a call with 9:31 left and the Sonics leading 73-68.

“I’ve never seen a superstar in this league get thrown out with 10 minutes left in the game when you know people come to see him. It was as if he was a rookie,” Seattle’s Nate McMillan said.

Led by Payton’s six points and five from Frank Brickowski on a 3-point shot and fast-break dunk, the Sonics responded with an 18-6 run for a 91-74 lead.

The Sonics outscored the Pistons 58-32 in the second half in improving their best-in-the-West record to 43-12.

Kemp was impressive during his 34 minutes, topping the Sonics with 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting and grabbing 14 rebounds.

After a rim-rattling dunk in the first half, the backboard was still swaying 30 seconds later.

“When one of our big guys gets in foul trouble, we’ve shown the ability to respond,” Seattle guard Hersey Hawkins said.

Allan Houston paced the Pistons with 29 points and Grant Hill added 15. Detroit made only eight shots in 34 attempts in the second half.

After trailing 48-36 at halftime, the Sonics outscored the Pistons 32-16 in the third period - Payton scoring 11 - for a 68-64 lead after three quarters. The Sonics blocked six shots in the third quarter, four by Ervin Johnson.

“Maybe, it was the early start, but we seemed to wake up in the second half,” Detlef Schrempf said, refering to the 5 p.m. local starting time so the game could be shown nationally on cable.

Pistons coach Doug Collins felt helpless watching the Sonics run over his team in the second half.

“It was like watching a car going downhill without brakes,” Collins said. “I just couldn’t get it stopped.”

Notes Seattle has won 11 in a row at Key Arena and is 26-2 at home. … The Pistons scored one more point than their season-low of 73 at Orlando on Dec. 23. … The Sonics were 11-1 in February, their best month since going 11-1 in Nov. 1993.

SuperSonics 94, Pistons 80 FG FT Reb DETROIT Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Hill 33 4-12 7-7 2-4 6 4 15 Thorpe 31 4-11 0-0 0-6 0 3 8 Reid 13 0-3 0-0 1-2 1 3 0 Houston 44 6-11 14-15 0-5 5 2 29 Hunter 43 5-15 0-0 1-2 3 4 13 Ratliff 25 0-1 1-2 1-3 1 2 1 Mills 27 4-10 2-2 2-9 0 4 11 Curry 22 0-3 1-2 2-2 0 0 1 Roe 2 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 240 24-68 25-28 9-33 16 22 80 Percentages: FG .353, FT .893.

3-Point Goals: 7-19, .368 (Houston 3-5, Hunter 3-9, Mills 1-2, Thorpe 0-1, Curry 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 7 (Ratliff 4, Reid 2, Hill).

Turnovers: 16 (Houston 7, Hill 5, Mills 2, Ratliff, team).

Steals: 6 (Hunter 2, Hill, Thorpe, Houston, Ratliff).

Technical fouls: Coach Collins, 6:51 first; delay of game, 10:31 third; illegal defense, 9:18 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 34 9-14 5-5 5-14 0 3 23 Schrempf 33 8-15 0-1 2-11 4 3 18 Johnson 16 0-2 2-2 1-2 0 2 2 Hawkins 34 3-8 5-6 3-6 4 0 13 Payton 43 8-20 3-3 1-4 8 3 19 Perkins 26 2-10 4-5 2-5 2 1 9 Askew 24 0-3 0-0 0-2 3 4 0 McMillan 18 2-5 0-0 0-3 1 3 5 Brickowski 12 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 3 5 Totals 240 34-80 19-22 14-47 22 22 94 Percentages: FG .425, FT .864.

3-Point Goals: 7-23, .304 (Hawkins 2-3, Schrempf 2-5, Brickowski 1-2, McMillan 1-3, Perkins 1-5, Askew 0-1, Payton 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 7 (Johnson 4, Kemp, Payton, Perkins) Turnovers: 18 (Kemp 3, Johnson 3, Payton 3, Askew 2, McMillan 2, Brickowski 2, Hawkins, Perkins, team).

Steals: 9 (Payton 4, Hawkins 3, Schrempf, Perkins).

Technical fouls: Kemp, 8:05 first; Payton, 5:29 first; Coach Karl, 4:58 first; Kemp, 9:31 fourth; McMillan, 9:31 fourth.

Ejection: Kemp, 9:31 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1. Detroit 22 26 16 16 - 80 Seattle 19 17 32 26 - 94 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:08.

Officials-Steve Javie, Bruce Alexander, Tony Brothers.