Sonics Beat Bucks, Bad Quarter

When the SuperSonics’ 23-7 first-quarter lead had faded into a rash of turnovers and forced shots resulting in a 27 percent-shooting, 14-point second quarter, there were plenty of excuses.

Earlier Tuesday, they were stuck on a Newark runway at the hour usually reserved for getting accustomed to the rims in an opposition’s arena. It was the latest in a practice-and-preparation disruption forced on the Sonics by the “Blizzard of ‘96.”

But the Sonics didn’t have to make any excuses, thanks to a second-half rally that earned them a 97-92 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks before 15,388 at Bradley Center.

“We couldn’t say we weren’t ready and we didn’t practice,” said swingman Nate McMillan. “It was a game we had to find a way win. It was important to make the road trip sweeter.”

The trip sweetened to 4-1 for the Sonics, who end it tonight against the NBA’s best team, the Chicago Bulls.

In winning their eighth game of their last nine and running their streak against the Bucks to 9-0, the Pacific Division-leading Sonics improved to 23-9.

The Bucks (12-20) were feisty throughout and particularly in the early stages of the fourth quarter.

“When they got a six-point lead with 7 minutes left, I felt we had to get a lot more serious than we wanted to,” Sonics coach George Karl said. “But defensively we did a good job and we hit some 3s.”

Following two games in which they were 29.2 percent from the 3-point line (12-for-41), the Sonics hit their third-highest 3-point mark (48 percent) with their second-highest total, 12.

The Bucks’ defensive rotation out of double-teams was predictable, and once the Sonics were familiar with it, they were able to make quick passes to open teammates for 3-pointers.

Center Sam Perkins hit four 3-pointers in nine attempts; guard Gary Payton hit one 3 on three attempts; Hersey Hawkins was 3 of 6 from the arc; and Vinnie Askew knocked down both his 3-point tries.”Everything felt good except the free throws,” said Hawkins’ whose 90 percent season average from the line ranks him sixth in the league.”For all of us, this was a test of our character. When we got up so much, fell behind, and then had to come back. We kept our composure, and when it got to the crunch, we felt we had enough talent to win.”

Over the final 7:15 of the game, the Sonics erased the Bucks’ 80-76 lead by holding them to 12 points.

Payton had 26 points and three steals; Kemp had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Sonics 97, Bucks 92

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 36 9-15 3-5 2-10 3 5 21 McMillan 34 2-9 2-4 1-3 7 3 6 Perkins 37 4-11 4-4 3-4 3 1 16 Hawkins 38 5-9 2-4 1-3 3 2 15 Payton 43 8-17 7-8 0-4 4 4 26 Askew 23 4-8 3-4 1-2 1 2 13 Brickowski 21 0-2 0-0 1-2 2 2 0 Wingate 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Johnson 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 3 0 Totals 240 32-71 21-29 9-29 23 22 97

Percentages: FG .451, FT .724.

3-Point Goals: 12-25, .480 (Perkins 4-9, Payton 3-5, Hawkins 3-6, Askew 2-2, Brickowski 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 12.

Blocked shots: 5 (Payton 2, McMillan 2, Kemp).

Turnovers: 13 (Kemp 3, McMillan 3, Payton 3, Brickowski, Askew, Hawkins, Perkins).

Steals: 12 (Payton 3, Kemp 3, McMillan 2, Perkins 2, Hawkins 2).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb MILWAUKEE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 43 8-14 9-12 5-11 1 3 25 Robinson 33 8-16 4-5 1-3 2 4 21 Benjamin 7 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 2 Douglas 34 4-8 0-0 0-3 4 2 8 Newman 8 0-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Cummings 31 6-12 1-2 2-10 0 4 13 Mayberry 30 2-6 0-0 0-2 9 3 5 Respert 24 2-4 0-0 1-3 5 1 6 Keys 15 1-2 0-0 1-3 3 0 2 Conlon 15 4-8 1-2 0-1 0 4 10 Totals 240 36-74 15-21 10-39 24 22 92

Percentages: FG .486, FT .714.

3-Point Goals: 5-14, .357 (Respert 2-3, Conlon 1-2, Robinson 1-3, Mayberry 1-3, Douglas 0-1, Newman 0-1, Keys 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 2 (Keys, Mayberry).

Turnovers: 17 (Robinson 6, Baker 4, Benjamin 2, Douglas, Mayberry, Respert, Keys, Conlon).

Steals: 6 (Baker 3, Robinson, Mayberry, Respert).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 2:21 second; illegal defense, 5:58 third.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 28 14 26 29 - 97

Milwaukee 19 26 25 22 - 92

A-15,388 (18,633). T-2:08.