Sonics Embarrass Visiting Charlotte Seattle Matches Season Scoring Mark With Payton, Kemp Leading The Way

How impressive was Gary Payton on Wednesday night?

“He’s a candidate for MVP,” Charlotte coach Allan Bristow said. “He’s one of the top five players in the league. This year he’s playing with a special kind of confidence.”

Payton had a career-high 17 assists and fellow All-Star Shawn Kemp scored 21 points as the Seattle SuperSonics sent the Hornets to their most lopsided loss of the season, 132-95.

The Sonics tied their highest point total of the season and had the highest total by a Charlotte opponent.

“One big reason that team is where they’re at is Gary Payton,” the Hornets’ Kenny Anderson said. “His defense has always been great, but his overall game has improved so much.”

Ahead by 21 after three periods, the Sonics scored 11 unanswered points at the start of the fourth quarter to officially stamp this one as a blowout.

Payton scored 19 points and Kemp had 11 rebounds before leaving early in the final quarter. Detlef Schrempf scored 18 points and Hersey Hawkins 17 in the Sonics’ 55th victory of the season, tops in the Western Conference.

Payton, a six-year player, is leading the league in steals this season and is averaging a career-best 7.4 assists.

The Sonics like the new, improved Payton, who is sharing the ball with them more than ever.

“When he passes the ball like that, it’s a lot of fun to play,” Schrempf said. “It’s a lot of fun for everybody to get out there and run the court because they know they’re going to get the ball.” “I think Gary’s getting in a playoff groove,” Hawkins said. “He’s playing well in all areas of the game now.”

“I don’t think people realize how competitive Gary Payton is,” Sonics rookie Eric Snow said.

Larry Johnson had 17 points to lead the Hornets, who were coming off road wins against the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver and missed a chance to gain a game on Miami in the battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

Glen Rice, Charlotte’s top scorer at 22.5 points per game, was limited to 13.

SuperSonics 132, Hornets 95

FG FT Reb CHARLOTTE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Geiger 27 2-8 3-4 1-7 1 4 7 L.Johnson 28 7-13 3-3 4-8 4 1 17 Parish 19 4-8 0-0 1-4 0 3 8 Anderson 28 5-11 3-5 0-0 5 2 15 Rice 27 5-12 2-3 0-1 2 3 13 Addison 20 4-10 0-0 2-3 1 3 8 Goldwire 20 2-7 1-2 1-2 3 2 6 Curry 19 2-5 0-0 0-2 2 1 5 Hancock 19 3-5 4-7 2-4 1 4 10 Zidek 19 1-6 0-0 2-4 0 2 2 Myers 14 0-4 4-4 0-0 0 4 4 Totals 240 35-89 20-28 13-35 19 29 95 Percentages: FG .393, FT .714.

3-Point Goals: 5-15, .333 (Anderson 2-4, Rice 1-3, Goldwire 1-3, Curry 1-3, Myers 0-1, Addison 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 7.

Blocked shots: 2 (Geiger, Parish).

Turnovers: 17 (Curry 5, Anderson 2, Rice 2, Zidek 2, Geiger, L.Johnson, Addison, Goldwire, Hancock, Myers).

Steals: 15 (Curry 3, Zidek 2, Myers 2, Parish 2, Geiger, Anderson, Rice, Addison, Goldwire, Hancock).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 35 7-12 7-11 2-11 1 3 21 Schrempf 26 7-10 2-2 0-4 6 4 18 E.Johnson 28 5-7 2-2 2-11 1 4 12 Hawkins 32 4-9 8-9 0-3 1 0 17 Payton 36 8-16 1-1 0-4 17 3 19 Perkins 20 3-7 4-4 1-5 2 2 12 McMillan 18 4-6 0-0 0-3 0 1 11 Wingate 21 3-3 2-2 0-3 3 0 9 Scheffler 9 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 Snow 8 1-1 3-4 0-1 3 1 5 Ford 7 3-4 0-0 1-2 0 1 6 Totals 240 46-76 29-35 6-49 34 21 132 Percentages: FG .605, FT .829.

3-Point Goals: 11-22, .500 (McMillan 3-4, Schrempf 2-4, Payton 2-5, Perkins 2-5, Wingate 1-1, Hawkins 1-3).

Team Rebounds: 7.

Blocked shots: 5 (Kemp 3, Perkins 2).

Turnovers: 20 (Kemp 4, Payton 3, Perkins 3, E.Johnson 2, Wingate 2, Snow 2, Schrempf, McMillan, Scheffler, Ford).

Steals: 11 (Payton 3, E.Johnson 2, Hawkins 2, McMillan 2, Perkins, Snow).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1. Charlotte 21 29 26 19 - 95 Seattle 35 28 34 35 - 132 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:05.

Officials-Ron Garretson, David Jones, Jim Kinsey.