Payton Outguns Kidd In Victory

In a matchup of two of the best guards in the Western Conference, Gary Payton came out the winner.

So did the Seattle SuperSonics, who defeated Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks 108-101 Sunday.

Payton had 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting with five assists. Kidd had 22, eight assists and eight rebounds, but he struggled from the field, making just 9-of-24 from the field.

Early in the game, Payton and Kidd took turns posting each other up. Payton, a two-time All-Star, looked like he could score at will against Kidd, who has the second-most votes among Western Conference guards.

Last year’s co-rookie of the year will likely be the first Maverick to start an NBA All-Star game when the starting lineups are announced Jan. 25.

Kidd and Payton, who both come from the San Francisco Bay area, play together during the offseason, and Kidd said last summer’s work has really paid off.

“Gary worked with me during the summer, and those things have helped my game,” Kidd said. “Gary belongs there (at the All-Star game), too. I voted for him.”

Payton said he approached the game no differently even though Kidd is a friend.

“It’s no one-on-one thing between me and Jason,” he said. “Let’s get that out of your heads.”

Despite Payton’s big offensive game, Sonics coach George Karl was upset with his team’s defensive effort.

“We stunk,” he said. “I don’t know if it was Gary versus Jason or what it was. We were loose with the basketball and played with no conscious effort.”

Karl said none of his players looked like All-Stars.

“It was a lousy game. No one should be happy with the way we played tonight.”

Although they shot 55 percent from the field, the Sonics’ sloppy ballhandling allowed the Mavericks to score 24 points off turnovers. The smaller Mavericks also outrebounded Seattle 52-39.

SuperSonics 108, Mavericks 101

FG FT Reb DALLAS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Jones 42 7-14 4-4 11-20 4 5 18 McCloud 42 9-24 5-5 3-6 2 3 29 Meyer 14 0-4 0-0 1-5 0 5 0 Jackson 34 6-16 3-3 2-3 4 2 16 Kidd 41 9-24 3-6 5-8 8 2 22 Davis 34 4-9 0-0 3-8 0 6 8 Dumas 22 4-12 0-2 1-1 4 2 8 Brooks 5 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Parks 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Hodge 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 39-104 15-20 26-52 22 26 101

Percentages: FG .375, FT .750.

3-Point Goals: 8-31, .258 (McCloud 6-14, Jackson 1-4, Kidd 1-7, Brooks 0-1, Dumas 0-5).

Team Rebounds: 8.

Blocked shots: None.

Turnovers: 15 (Davis 3, Kidd 3, Jackson 3, Meyer 2, McCloud 2, Jones, Parks).

Steals: 9 (McCloud 5, Kidd 2, Jones, Dumas).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 42 9-15 8-12 2-13 1 5 26 Wingate 18 4-7 0-1 0-0 4 0 8 Perkins 31 3-8 2-4 0-5 2 1 8 Hawkins 38 7-13 4-4 0-2 3 4 20 Payton 37 11-19 5-6 1-2 5 4 29 Askew 21 2-4 1-2 0-2 4 0 5 Johnson 22 3-4 1-1 3-7 1 3 7 McMillan 30 2-4 0-0 1-8 6 2 5 Scheffler 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 41-74 21-30 7-39 26 19 108

Percentages: FG .554, FT .700.

3-Point Goals: 5-20, .250 (Hawkins 2-4, Payton 2-7, McMillan 1-3, Askew 0-1, Perkins 0-5).

Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 6 (Johnson 4, Kemp, Askew).

Turnovers: 19 (Kemp 8, Payton 3, Hawkins 2, Johnson 2, McMillan 2, Askew, Perkins).

Steals: 12 (Hawkins 6, Kemp 2, Payton 2, Askew 2).

Technical fouls: Wingate, 9:12 third; coach Karl, 6:51 fourth.

Illegal defense: None.

Dallas 24 17 27 33 - 101

Seattle 28 25 31 24 - 108

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

Officials-Ed T. Rush, Tom Washington, Scott Wall.