Payton, Ellis Lead Sonics To Fourth Straight Victory

It seemed impossible for a game to get uglier than the Seattle SuperSonics’ victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.

But when the teams met again Tuesday, they actually accomplished that feat.

It was like a wart had a wart. It was like where the Hudson River flows into the New York Sewer, uh, Harbor. It was like Quasimodo kissing Rosie O’Donnell.

Ick.

The only redeeming quality of Seattle’s 109-94 win was that it was played before only 6,272 fans in the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

If more people saw this, they might all be choking NBA coaches.

It was a game that saw a combined 46 turnovers, including 23 by the Sonics, who usually commit the fewest in the league. It was game that saw airballs and verbal free-for-alls, with Clippers rookie Maurice Taylor being tossed midway through the fourth quarter for making a shot over Dale Ellis and then telling him about it - vociferously.

Why Taylor ever would get the gumption to do that to Ellis is beyond reason, because Ellis came off the bench to score 23 points in 26 minutes. After missing nine of 10 shots Sunday, Ellis sank eight of 14 Tuesday.

He led the Sonics to their fourth consecutive win and improved their record to 19-5, still tops in the league. They have won 13 of their past 15 and their third straight over Los Angeles, which dropped to 4-20.

Considering Los Angeles’ record and its lack of, shall we say, star power - except in the stands - it probably is smart of it to get into a messy contest, where anything can happen.

But while the Sonics were willing to oblige the style of play, they did not succumb to a bad outcome, mostly because their outside shooting overcame every other aspect of the game.

Gary Payton, who missed practice Monday to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Oakland, Calif., rebounded from a 6-for-22 outing Sunday to score 25 points on eight-of-14 shooting. He also had six assists.

Vin Baker totaled 14 points and a conspicuously low three rebounds, while Detlef Schrempf had 13 points. Sam Perkins, who had 21 points Sunday, scored seven Tuesday.

SuperSonics 109, Clippers 94

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 37 5-12 4-6 2-4 2 5 14 Schrempf 36 4-8 7-8 1-2 3 5 15 McIlvaine 21 2-3 0-0 0-9 0 3 4 Hawkins 29 2-6 2-2 0-3 4 2 7 Payton 38 8-14 7-8 1-5 6 1 25 Perkins 19 2-6 2-2 1-4 1 3 7 Ellis 26 8-14 4-4 0-1 0 2 23 Williams 9 2-2 0-0 0-3 0 5 4 Wingate 13 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 Anthony 10 2-3 0-0 1-3 3 1 4 Cotton 1 1-1 2-2 0-0 0 0 4 Snow 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 37-71 28-32 6-35 19 29 109 Percentages: FG .521, FT .875. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Ellis 3-7, Payton 2-3, Hawkins 1-3, Perkins 1-4, Anthony 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 7 (Schrempf 2, McIlvaine 2, Baker, Perkins, Williams).

Turnovers: 24 (Baker 8, Payton 3, Williams 3, Wingate 2, Anthony 2, Schrempf 2, McIlvaine 2, Ellis, Cotton).

Steals: 13 (Baker 4, Payton 3, Hawkins 2, Schrempf, McIlvaine, Williams, Anthony).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb L.A. CLIPPERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Wright 41 5-16 7-14 7-14 4 4 17 Murray 40 3-10 0-0 4-7 5 2 6 Vrankovic 19 1-1 1-2 2-3 0 1 3 Piatkowski 22 3-11 2-4 1-3 0 2 8 Barry 42 8-14 0-2 0-0 0 3 21 Martin 32 5-13 2-2 0-4 2 5 15 Taylor 18 5-5 2-3 0-1 0 3 12 Rogers 21 4-9 2-2 3-7 0 4 10 Closs 3 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Richardson 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Robinson 1 0-1 2-2 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 240 34-82 18-31 17-40 11 24 94 Percentages: FG .415, FT .581.

3-Point Goals: 8-26, .308 (Barry 5-8, Martin 3-8, Richardson 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Murray 0-1, Rogers 0-2, Piatkowski 0-5).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 4 (Vrankovic 2, Wright, Taylor).

Turnovers: 25 (Martin 8, Barry 4, Wright 3, Murray 3, Rogers 3, Closs, Taylor, Richardson, team).

Steals: 9 (Piatkowski 2, Martin 2, Taylor 2, Wright, Vrankovic, Barry).

Technical fouls: Taylor, 7:21 4th; Taylor, 7:03 4th.

Ejections: Taylor, 7:03, 4th.

Illegal defense: None.

Seattle 32 32 16 29 - 109

L.A. Clippers 28 25 20 21 - 94

A-6,272 (16,021). T-2:14.