Sonics Make Sure History Repeats Seattle Beats Minnesota For A Nba-Record 26th Straight Time

The Minnesota Timberwolves have come a long way since their days as an NBA doormat. Gary Payton and the Seattle SuperSonics showed them Tuesday night how far they still have to go.

Payton had 21 points and 11 assists to lead Seattle to its NBA-record 26th consecutive win over Minnesota, a 108-99 decision. No team has dominated another for so long in league history, and the Sonics are showing no signs of letting up.

“That team is too talented to lose to anybody 26 times in a row,” said Hersey Hawkins, who matched a season high with 18 points, 12 in the decisive third quarter. “They’re still young, they have a lot to learn, but one day they’re going to break it. I just hope I’m gone when they do.”

Detlef Schrempf added 19 points as the Sonics finished a five-game road trip, their longest of the season, by handing Minnesota its eighth loss in 10 games.

The Wolves also have lost six of their last eight at the Target Center, where they were a franchise-best 25-16 last season on the way to their first playoff berth.

After watching one of the Wolves’ most uninspired efforts of the season, coach Flip Saunders found an easy explanation for his team’s record-setting defeat, which surpassed the 25 straight the Wolves lost to Phoenix from the franchise inception in 1989 until Jan. 4, 1996.

“They’re better than us,” Saunders said. “You don’t see where they’ve beaten us at the buzzer. They’ve beaten us by a good margin.”

The Wolves haven’t beaten the Sonics since a 100-96 overtime decision in Seattle on March 15, 1991.

Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota, which fell a season-low three games under .500.

“We don’t seem to have a sense of urgency, especially at home,” Saunders said. “The way we’ve played at times, you become embarrassed to walk around town.”

Tuesday’s game didn’t get embarrassing until the third quarter, when Payton and Hawkins each had 12 points as Seattle turned a 50-47 halftime lead into an 87-72 advantage entering the final period.

Hawkins made a 3-pointer to give the Sonics a 78-62 lead with 2:14 left in the third, their biggest lead of the game to that point. Minnesota closed within 10, but Payton hit an easy driving layup with four seconds left and then stole a sloppy inbounds pass and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“Gary was in control of the game the whole night: Passed it, scored it, ran us, defended. He played a great game,” coach George Karl said.

Sonics 108, Timberwolves 99

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 38 4-11 6-10 3-7 5 1 14 Schrempf 33 8-13 0-0 0-6 1 1 19 McIlvaine 25 2-2 0-0 2-10 0 4 4 Hawkins 28 4-9 7-7 0-1 2 1 18 Payton 32 7-13 5-7 0-5 11 3 21 Perkins 23 3-5 0-0 1-4 1 2 6 Ellis 21 5-11 4-4 0-2 2 1 14 Williams 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Wingate 16 3-6 0-0 2-4 1 4 6 Anthony 17 2-6 0-0 0-3 5 2 5 Cotton 2 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Snow 2 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 Totals 240 38-79 23-30 8-42 28 19 108

Percentages: FG .481, FT .767. 3-Point Goals: 9-23, .391 (Schrempf 3-4, Hawkins 3-7, Payton 2-4, Anthony 1-2, Perkins 0-1, Ellis 0-5). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked shots: 8 (McIlvaine 3, Baker 2, Perkins 2, Schrempf). Turnovers: 20 (Schrempf 3, Hawkins 3, Payton 3, Perkins 3, Wingate 3, McIlvaine 2, Baker, Anthony, Snow). Steals: 9 (Schrempf 3, Hawkins 2, Payton 2, McIlvaine, Williams). Technical fouls: Payton, 3:29 second. Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb MINNESOTA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Garnett 41 7-13 2-2 8-15 4 3 16 Gugliotta 37 5-12 1-1 1-9 5 4 11 Roberts 22 2-5 0-0 1-6 0 3 4 Carr 35 7-15 2-2 2-4 3 4 18 Marbury 33 4-19 7-9 1-2 5 3 15 Parks 8 1-1 0-0 1-3 0 0 2 Mitchell 23 4-11 5-5 0-3 2 3 13 Porter 15 1-4 2-2 0-0 3 0 5 Hammonds 13 3-5 0-0 2-5 0 3 6 Wheat 8 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 1 9 Jordan 5 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 1 0 Totals 240 37-91 19-21 17-48 24 25 99

Percentages: FG .407, FT .905. 3-Point Goals: 6-15, .400 (Wheat 3-4, Carr 2-6, Porter 1-2, Marbury 0-3). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 7 (Garnett 2, Hammonds 2, Roberts, Carr, Mitchell). Turnovers: 19 (Garnett 3, Gugliotta 3, Porter 3, Mitchell 2, Roberts, Carr, Marbury, Hammonds, Wheat, Jordan, team 2). Steals: 7 (Garnett 4, Gugliotta, Marbury, Jordan). Technical fouls: Carr, 8:46 third. Illegal defense: None.

Seattle 28 22 37 21 - 108

Minnesota 23 24 25 27 - 99

A-15,073 (19,006). T-2:05.