Sonics Ride Kemp Over Golden State
The early votes are in from the Seattle SuperSonics and it’s unanimous - Shawn Kemp is the NBA’s MVP.
Kemp followed up a 31-point performance with a season-high 33-point effort as the Sonics beat Golden State 121-102 Tuesday night.
“Tell me who’s playing better than Shawn,” Hersey Hawkins said. “I’ve played with a lot of players and Shawn is playing as well as any of them.”
Even Charles Barkley in his prime in Philadelphia?
“Charles is Charles and Shawn is Shawn,” said Hawkins, who played with Barkley for the 76ers. “Shawn is just as talented. It boggles my mind that teams don’t double-team him all the time. If they don’t double-team him, he’ll score 50 on you. He’s an incredible player.”
Detlef Schrempf, who added 27 for the Sonics, agreed.
“When he plays like that down low, he makes everything easier for everyone else,” Schrempf said.
The Sonics won their fourth in a row and the Warriors, who have won only once this season, dropped their fourth straight.
Kemp was 14 for 22 from the field, dominating the Warriors inside as they elected to single-cover him most of the game. Hawkins added 22 points for Seattle.
Latrell Sprewell led the Warriors with 27 points, but he had only one basket in the final quarter when the Sonics broke the game open with an 18-4 run for a 105-91 lead with 4:36 left.
Chris Mullin scored 21 points for Golden State.
Kemp, a four-time All-Star, is averaging a career-best 24.6 points and shooting a career-best .566 from the field in his first seven games this season. He’s also averaging 9.6 rebounds.
“He scared me before the game and he still scares me,” Golden State coach Rick Adelman said of Kemp.
“He might be the toughest matchup for me in the league because he has so many strengths,” said second-year Warriors forward Joe Smith, who had to try to stop Kemp for much of the night.
Kemp said he isn’t surprised when he’s not doubled.
“You can’t just double me all the time,” he said. “If you do that, we have too many outside shooters who will kill you. I’ve worked hard recognizing double-teams and kicking the ball back out.”
Gary Payton had 13 points, 11 assists and five steals for Seattle, but shot only 6 for 15.
xxxx SuperSonics 121, Warriors 102 FG FT Reb GOLDEN STATE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Mullin 35 9-15 1-1 1-5 4 4 21 Smith 36 4-12 2-3 3-5 1 2 10 Fuller 29 5-9 0-0 0-7 3 1 10 Price 30 6-11 0-0 1-3 5 0 16 Sprewell 40 8-15 7-7 1-4 7 2 27 Armstrong 18 2-3 0-0 0-2 0 1 4 Coles 18 2-8 0-0 2-3 2 1 4 Royal 19 2-3 2-4 1-2 1 4 6 Spencer 11 0-3 0-2 3-5 0 4 0 Owes 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Marshall 2 1-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 4 Totals 240 39-81 13-19 12-36 23 20 102 Percentages: FG .481, FT .684. 3-Point Goals: 11-19, .579 (Price 4-5, Sprewell 4-8, Mullin 2-4, Marshall 1-1, Smith 0-1). Team Rebounds: 12. Blocked shots: 1 (Fuller). Turnovers: 19 (Mullin 7, Sprewell 4, Smith 3, Fuller 3, Coles, Spencer). Steals: 4 (Sprewell 2, Price, Smith). Technical fouls: Mullin, 2:48 fourth. Illegal defense: 1. FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 39 14-22 5-7 3-8 2 2 33 Schrempf 38 10-13 4-5 0-4 8 4 27 McIlvaine 17 2-4 1-2 1-5 1 3 5 Hawkins 34 9-13 1-2 1-3 2 3 22 Payton 41 6-15 0-2 3-5 11 3 13 Perkins 20 4-7 4-6 0-4 2 2 12 Ehlo 26 2-8 0-0 0-2 4 1 5 Wingate 16 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 Snow 7 1-1 0-0 1-1 3 1 2 Stewart 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 240 49-86 15-24 9-32 34 21 121 Percentages: FG .570, FT .625. 3-Point Goals: 8-18, .444 (Schrempf 3-4, Hawkins 3-4, Ehlo 1-2, Payton 1-4, Perkins 0-2, Wingate 0-2). Team Rebounds: 14. Blocked shots: 6 (McIlvaine 3, Kemp 2, Perkins). Turnovers: 9 (Kemp 3, Payton 3, Schrempf, Hawkins, Wingate). Steals: 11 (Payton 5, Ehlo 2, Hawkins 2, McIlvaine, Kemp). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: 1. Golden State 38 19 24 21 - 102 Seattle 29 28 27 37 - 121 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:07.