Ellis Shoots; Sonics Soar Seattle Crushes Golden State With Help Of 3-Point Milestone

Dale Ellis, 37, is still gunning away.

The oldest member of the SuperSonics became the first NBA player to make 1,500 3-point shots Saturday night as Seattle rolled over the Golden State Warriors 108-89.

Ellis, the career leader in 3-pointers made and attempted, took a feed from Gary Payton and drilled a 25-footer for his milestone basket with 10:30 left in the game to give the Sonics an 88-60 advantage. Ellis had 14 points and hit 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

“It feels fantastic,” Ellis said. “I know I have a lot more 3-point shots in me.”

Detlef Schrempf led the Sonics with 20 points and nine rebounds. Vin Baker added 19 points and Payton had 16 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. The Sonics won their sixth straight game and beat the Warriors for the 10th straight time.

Ellis is one of seven new players on Seattle’s roster this season. He is in his second tour with the Sonics after playing there from 1986-1990. He was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks during the ‘90-91 season.

Sonics coach George Karl couldn’t be happier with Ellis’ play.

“He’s playing about as good as I can expect him to play,” Karl said. “He’s a great, great weapon and he’s playing defense hard and rebounding.”

Tony Delk led the Warriors with a season-high 20 points and Erick Dampier had 15 points and eight rebounds. Golden State dropped to 1-12 on the road.

Delk scored 14 of his points in the fourth quarter and finished 10 of 19 from the field.

Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo was predictably disappointed.

“This was our worst performance in a while,” Carlesimo said. “They doubled us inside and we just didn’t hit our jump shots.”

At 21-5, the Sonics are off to the second-fastest start in franchise history. Seattle, which has beaten the Warriors 10 straight times and has won 12 in a row at home, opened the 1993-94 season 23-3.

The Sonics’ aggressive defense dictated the tempo of the game. They double-teamed Joe Smith often and stymied the Warriors’ power forward. He had averaged 24 points the past three games but was held to five points on 2-for-12 shooting in 28 minutes.

Payton had a dazzling floor game for the Sonics. He fed Hawkins for a reverse layup for a 61-39 lead, and after a dunk by Baker, Payton stole a pass, drove the length of the floor and fed Hawkins for another layup to make it 65-41.

Aaron Williams added 11 points for the Sonics.

Schrempf had 12 points and Payton and Baker added 10 points apiece as Seattle opened a 52-38 halftime lead.

SuperSonics 108, Warriors 89

FG FT Reb GOLDEN STATE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Ferrell 22 1-5 1-2 0-2 0 0 3 Smith 28 2-12 1-2 2-5 2 5 5 Dampier 26 6-11 3-7 2-8 1 2 15 Coles 25 2-6 0-0 0-1 8 5 4 Shaw 27 3-12 2-2 0-4 5 1 9 Bogues 14 1-1 1-1 1-1 2 1 3 Delk 31 10-19 0-0 1-4 2 1 20 Simpkins 22 3-6 1-2 3-5 3 2 7 Spencer 17 2-3 1-1 2-3 0 3 5 Foyle 16 6-9 0-0 1-3 0 5 12 Fuller 12 2-5 2-4 4-7 1 0 6 Totals 240 38-89 12-21 16-43 24 25 89 Percentages: FG .427, FT .571.

3-Point Goals: 1-6, .167 (Shaw 1-1, Ferrell 0-1, Coles 0-2, Delk 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 4 (Smith, Dampier, Spencer, Fuller).

Turnovers: 17 (Smith 4, Coles 3, Dampier 2, Shaw 2, Fuller 2, Bogues, Delk, Simpkins, Spencer).

Steals: 9 (Delk 3, Ferrell 2, Smith, Dampier, Shaw, Bogues).

Technical foul: Coach Carlesimo, 10:07 fourth.

Flagrant foul: Coles, 7:25 first.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 30 6-11 7-11 3-5 3 1 19 Schrempf 26 7-14 4-5 2-9 2 1 20 McIlvaine 19 1-4 1-2 3-7 0 3 3 Hawkins 27 5-10 2-2 3-7 3 3 13 Payton 31 5-10 6-7 0-5 11 2 16 Ellis 24 5-10 1-2 2-5 1 0 14 Perkins 12 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 2 0 Williams 23 4-6 3-4 0-3 0 3 11 Wingate 18 2-3 0-0 0-3 2 2 4 Anthony 11 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 Cotton 9 1-6 1-1 0-0 0 0 3 Snow 10 1-2 1-2 0-1 4 0 3 Totals 240 38-81 26-36 13-47 27 18 108 Percentages: FG .469, FT .722.

3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Ellis 3-4, Schrempf 2-3, Hawkins 1-4, Payton 0-1, Perkins 0-2, Anthony 0-2, Cotton 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 10 (Williams 3, McIlvaine 3, Baker 2, Perkins, Wingate).

Turnovers: 15 (Payton 5, Hawkins 3, Williams 2, Wingate 2, Anthony 2, Schrempf).

Steals: 7 (Payton 2, Ellis 2, Hawkins, Perkins, Williams).

Technical foul: Illegal defense, 9:12 second.

Illegal defense: 1.

Golden State 16 20 22 31 - 89

Seattle 29 23 31 25 - 108

A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:07.