Kemp Helps Sonics Get Back On Line 14-For-14 Effort On Free Throws Gives Seattle First Win Of Season

Shawn Kemp had 24 points and went 14 for 14 from the free-throw line to lead Seattle to a 104-93 victory over Portland in the SuperSonics’ home opener Saturday night.

The defending Western Conference champions, who lost their opener at Utah on Friday night, got 23 points from Detlef Schrempf and 18 from Gary Payton.

Isaiah Rider had 21 points and Cliff Robinson 17 for the Trail Blazers, who opened their season with a victory over Vancouver on Friday night.

The Sonics led by eight points in the first quarter and broke the game open in the second period when they held the Blazers to 11 points for a 54-37 lead. Portland was 4-for-13 shooting in the second quarter.

Jim McIlvaine, Seattle’s new 7-foot-1 center, had five blocked shots, giving him nine in two games. He helped hold Arvydas Sabonis to eight points in 24 minutes.

The Blazers had 26 turnovers, leading to 29 points for Seattle.

A 16-footer by Rider in the opening minute of the second period put the Blazers ahead 28-27 before Nate McMillan sank a 3-pointer and Kemp converted a three-point play.

After a jump hook by Rasheed Wallace, the Sonics went on a 17-3 run that included 10 points by Schrempf and a 3-pointer by Craig Ehlo.

The Sonics were without Payton, last season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year, for the entire second quarter after he picked up his third foul with 12.5 seconds left in the first period, but Portland’s offense sputtered despite Payton’s absence.

SuperSonics 104, Trail Blazers 93

FG FT Reb PORTLAND Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Robinson 36 6-14 4-4 1-3 1 2 17 Wallace 19 2-5 0-2 0-4 1 5 4 Sabonis 24 3-5 2-3 2-9 1 1 8 Anderson 26 4-11 5-6 1-3 4 4 13 McKie 30 2-5 3-4 0-1 5 0 8 Trent 25 6-8 3-4 2-5 0 5 15 Rider 26 7-10 4-4 0-3 0 2 21 Dudley 18 0-1 0-0 0-3 0 4 0 Jordan 7 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 1 0 Wingfield 22 2-5 0-0 0-5 5 4 5 Butler 4 0-0 0-2 0-0 1 0 0 Childress 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 240 33-65 21-29 6-38 19 28 93 Percentages: FG .508, FT .724 3-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Rider 2-5, McKie 1-2, Wingfield 1-3, Robinson 1-4, Sabonis 0-1, Anderson 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 8.

Blocked shots: 3 (Wallace, Trent, Dudley).

Turnovers: 26 (Robinson 5, McKie 4, Dudley 4, Rider 3, Wallace 3, Anderson 2, Winfield 2, Trent, team 2) Steals: 7 (McKie 2, Sabonis, Anderson, Rider, Dudley, Wingfield).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 30 5-11 14-14 2-9 2 4 24 Schrempf 32 8-10 6-6 0-2 6 2 23 McIlvaine 22 1-2 0-1 0-4 1 4 2 Hawkins 33 6-11 2-2 2-6 2 1 15 Payton 26 8-19 2-6 1-1 5 4 18 Perkins 23 2-6 5-6 1-2 2 2 10 Ehlo 19 3-6 0-0 0-1 2 3 7 McMillan 20 1-1 2-2 0-3 4 1 5 Stewart 11 0-5 0-0 2-2 0 1 0 Wingate 11 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Snow 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 3 0 Spencer 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 34-77 31-37 8-30 26 25 104 Percentages: FG .442, FT .838.

3-Point Goals: 5-15, .333 (McMillan 1-1, Ehlo 1-2, Perkins 1-2, Schrempf 1-2, Hawkins 1-4, Stewart 0-1, Kemp 0-1, Payton 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 6 (McIlvaine 5, Kemp).

Turnovers: 18 (Kemp 4, Schrempf 2, Perkins 2, Stewart 2, Snow 2, McIlvaine, Hawkins, Payton, Spencer, team 2).

Steals: 11 (McMillan 2, Perkins 2, Kemp, Schrempf, Hawkins, Payton, Stewart, Wingate, Spencer).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

Portland 26 11 27 29 - 93

Seattle 27 27 28 22 - 104

A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:14.