Kemp Gets Hot In Hurry Payton, Ehlo Contributors In Arena Win

Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton were brilliant in spurts Thursday night.

The hometown hero playing hurt wasn’t half-bad either.

Payton’s 21 points and trademark defensive pressure were staples in the Seattle SuperSonics’ 102-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers before 12,128 in the Arena.

But while Payton and Kemp pulled off the big plays down the stretch that led to the Sonics’ fourth win in six exhibitions games, it was the suck-it-up comeback of Washington State’s Craig Ehlo that caught the eye of Sonics coach George Karl.

Ehlo dislocated the ring finger of his shooting hand 25 seconds into the game, had it popped back in place at courtside and came back to score eight points while running the court like a rookie.

“He (Ehlo) is going to make it easy (for the coaching staff),” Karl said of the 13- year veteran swingman who plans to settle in Spokane when he retires. “He’s just a fundamentally sound player who knows how to win. Not flashy, not spectacular but he gets things done. He’ll play better as he gets more comfortable.”

Karl watched his team go wire-to-wire, jumping out 10-2 and holding off a late Trail Blazers flurry.

Kemp, playing in his first game since ending a 22-day holdout, had a sharp shooting touch for just coming out of the box. The 6-foot-10 all-star forward had 20 points, converting all 10 of his free throws and connecting on 5 of 7 from the field.

He also fouled out in 19 minutes and found himself at times in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“His timing’s off a little bit, he doesn’t know the sets very well, so he’ll only get better,” Karl said. “Here’s a guy who has worked very hard on his game and is in a situation where now he’s trying to be one of the best players ever to play the game. I’m happy to be a part of it.”

The Sonics stretched a 61-60 lead to 16 in a decisive 3:42 spurt late in the third quarter, with Kemp and Payton scoring 13 of the Sonics’ 16 points.

After Kemp drained a pair of free throws to put Seattle up 65-60, Payton stripped Portland’s Aleksandar Djordjevic and turned it into a layup. He then fed Kemp for a reverse layup off the glass and the Sonics were up 69-60 and flying.

Kemp’s thunderous (is there any other kind with him?) reverse jam at 6:43 of the third period came off two slick passes - Ehlo’s lob from the perimeter to Payton, who found Kemp shedding the defense along the baseline.

But just as he brings the Sonics to life, Payton’s streak shooting has a down side. He missed his first seven shots, when the Sonics could have run the turnover-prone Blazers out of the building early, then sank six of his seven third-quarter shots, when the Sonics won the game.

“He and Det (Schrempf) just didn’t make shots they make almost all the time. I’m sure when the bell rings in November they’ll be ready,” said Karl.

Schrempf finished with 19 points, hitting 7 of 17 shots, not one of his better shooting nights. He compensated with a big night on the glass, leading all rebounders with 11 boards.

Arydas Sabonis led Portland (3-3) with 21 points.

Ehlo said the injury wasn’t as bad as it looked.

“Hopefully we can control it with some tape and some therapy,” Ehlo said. “It wasn’t so much the pain, it was having to look at it. That made it hurt worse.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo