Kemp-Less Sonics Win 13th In A Row
The Seattle SuperSonics are playing so well they’re breaking records without leading scorer and rebounder Shawn Kemp.
The SuperSonics won a franchise-record 13th straight game Saturday night by getting double-figure scoring from six players in Kemp’s absence as they beat the New Jersey Nets 103-92.
Detlef Schrempf had 26 points, Gary Payton 22 and the Sonics forced 12 second-half turnovers in breaking the record of 12 straight victories set by the 1982-83 team coached by Lenny Wilkens.
“Our options were pretty limited tonight,” said Sonics coach George Karl, who also had swingman Nate McMillan go on the injured list earlier in the day and then lost Frank Brickowski to a second-quarter ejection. “We knew it was going to be Det or Gary we’d have to go to. But these guys are very competitive. They love to play and they want badly to win.”
Kemp, averaging 20.7 points and 12.1 rebounds, sprained his left foot in the first quarter against the Celtics on Friday and did not attend Saturday’s game. His status is day-to-day.
The rest of the Sonics took up the slack. Ervin Johnson had 17, Hersey Hawkins 14, Sam Perkins 12 and Vincent Askew 10. Johnson also had a game-high 13 rebounds - eight more than his average - and Schrempf 10.
“This team is going to do whatever it has to do to win, even when a key player like Shawn goes out,” said Payton, who played 45 minutes and added seven assists, four steals and three rebounds. “We can’t worry when he is coming back. We just have to keep playing.”
That’s something the Nets didn’t do in losing their third straight, all at home.
“We did not play well,” said Nets forward Armon Gilliam, who scored 16 but again looked tired on the court. “We were thoroughly outplayed. That’s why we lost. Normally, we match the level of competition. We normally play better games against good teams. That wasn’t the case tonight.”
Chris Childs had 20 points for the Nets. Vern Fleming came off the bench to add 19 and Shawn Bradley had 14, 10 in the first quarter.
The Sonics took the lead for good with a 24-10 spurt early in the third quarter that combined good defense and an ability to run the fast break. Johnson had eight points in the run, including a tremendous fastbreak jam over the 7-foot-6 Bradley that resulted in a three-point play.
‘It was fun being able to do that,” Johnson said. “He’s a 7-6 guy so that’s a lot of fun.”
The run gave the Sonics a 75-63 lead and the Nets only made one run, drawing within five early in the fourth quarter on a baseline jumper by Gilliam with 7:37 to go.
Askew then hit a floater to ignite a 6-0 run and the Nets never got close again.
“We are not stepping it up when we have to,” Nets coach Butch Beard said. “It’s all mental.”
Notes
Frank Brickowski of the Sonics and Rick Mahorn of the Nets were ejected with 8:30 left in second quarter after being called for double technicals by referee Bob Delaney. Delaney called a double foul after the players locked arms fighting for position, then ejected them after the went face-to-face arguing… . Steve Scheffler got his first start of the year filling in for Kemp. He did not score.
xxxx SuperSonics 103, Nets 92 FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 44 8-12 10-11 2-10 2 4 26 Johnson 33 5-8 7-9 3-13 1 3 17 Scheffler 14 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Hawkins 31 5-12 2-2 0-4 3 5 14 Payton 45 8-19 4-4 1-3 7 4 22 Perkins 23 5-11 0-0 1-4 2 2 12 Askew 29 5-6 0-0 0-2 4 5 10 Brickowski 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Wingate 16 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 Totals 240 37-71 23-26 7-36 20 25 103 Percentages: FG .521, FT .885. 3-Point Goals: 6-15, .400 (Perkins 2-4, Hawkins 2-5, Payton 2-6). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 5 (Johnson 3, Schrempf, Perkins). Turnovers: 17 (Payton 5, Johnson 3, Askew 3, Schrempf 2, Scheffler 2, Hawkins, team). Steals: 9 (Payton 4, Hawkins 2, Johnson, Perkins, Wingate). Technical fouls: Brickowski, 8:30 second; Payton, 6:37 fourth; Illegal defense, 3:16 second; Illegal defense, 11:31 third. Ejection: Brickowski, 8:30 second. Illegal defense: 1. FG FT Reb NEW JERSEY Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Brown 35 0-6 3-4 2-8 5 5 3 Gilliam 40 8-16 0-0 4-9 0 2 16 Bradley 34 7-13 0-0 0-5 0 5 14 O’Bannon 23 3-8 0-0 1-2 1 3 6 Childs 43 4-10 10-13 2-2 12 5 20 Williams 28 3-8 3-4 4-12 1 3 9 Fleming 29 7-13 5-7 2-2 6 1 19 Mahorn 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 Reeves 6 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 3 Totals 000 34-76 21-28 15-41 25 28 92 Percentages: FG .447, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 3-9, .333 (Childs 2-6, Reeves 1-1, Fleming 0-2). Team Rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 7 (Bradley 4, Brown, O’Bannon, Williams). Turnovers: 17 (Gilliam 4, Bradley 4, Brown 3, Childs 2, Williams 2, O’Bannon, team). Steals: 10 (Childs 3, O’Bannon 2, Williams 2, Brown, Gilliam, Fleming). Technical fouls: Mahorn, 8:30 second; Illegal defense, 5:16 second; Illegal defense, 4:45 second. Ejection: Mahorn, 8:30 second. Illegal defense: 1. Seattle 29 22 26 26 - 103 New Jersey 25 25 16 26 - 92 A-20,029 (20,029). T-2:08. Officials-Derrick Stafford, Bob Delaney, Tim Donaghy.