Sonics Really Road Warriors Seattle Applies Defensive Pressure To Outplay Phoenix

Seattle’s NBA-best road record is not by accident. Sunday night’s 106-97 win over the Phoenix Suns was a prime example.

The SuperSonics limited Phoenix to 36 percent shooting and Gary Payton had 24 points, 10 assists and six rebounds as Seattle improved to 11-4 on the road.

Detlef Schrempf added 25 points and nine rebounds for the SuperSonics, who won despite being outrebounded 47-30.

“We know they like to score a lot of points, so we wanted to make it more of a defensive game,” Schrempf said. “I thought we did a good job with that. We gave away rebounding, but made up for it with great defense. They like to run and gun, so forcing them to take bad shots was a big key.”

Rex Chapman had 26 points and Cedric Ceballos 18 for Phoenix, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. The Suns lost both Danny Manning and Jason Kidd to injuries.

Manning strained an abdominal muscle late in the first quarter and Kidd rolled his right ankle with 5:44 remaining in the game. The Suns said both players would be reevaluated today.

Seattle led by as many as 10 in the third quarter, but Phoenix rallied and closed to 87-85 on five consecutive points by Steve Nash early in the fourth quarter.

Vin Baker then had four points during a 9-0 run that boosted Seattle’s lead to 96-85 and sealed the victory.

“To come here and beat a team like Phoenix on the road, that’s a big win for us,” Baker said.

“We played hard for the most part, but obviously have a little ways to go to compete with the best teams,” Nash said. “We made a few runs, but just couldn’t get over the hump and that’s a credit to them.”

Dale Ellis came off the bench and hit consecutive 3-pointers to ignite a 17-3 run that put Seattle up 43-35 in the second quarter en route to a 51-46 halftime lead.

Tempers flared most of the first half as Seattle coach George Karl, Payton and Suns coach Danny Ainge each were assessed technical fouls.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SuperSonics 106, Suns 97 FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 40 10-14 4-4 2-9 5 4 25 Baker 40 7-16 6-8 2-4 4 4 20 McIlvaine 12 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 6 0 Payton 42 8-14 4-7 1-6 10 4 24 Hawkins 38 3-11 7-7 0-1 1 2 15 Perkins 20 0-4 0-0 1-3 1 2 0 Ellis 26 6-7 3-4 0-5 0 4 19 Wingate 15 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 3 Anthony 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Totals 240 35-68 25-32 7-30 23 27 106 Percentages: FG .515, FT .781. 3-Point Goals: 11-20, .550 (Ellis 4-5, Payton 4-6, Hawkins 2-4, Schrempf 1-2, Perkins 0-3). Team Rebounds: 12. Blocked shots: 2 (Baker, McIlvaine). Turnovers: 14 (Ellis 3, Payton 3, McIlvaine 2, Schrempf 2, Baker, Wingate, Anthony, team). Steals: 8 (Payton 4, Baker 2, Hawkins, Wingate). Technical fouls: Coach Karl, 7:49 first; Payton, 1:03 second; Ellis, :51.6 third. Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb PHOENIX Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Ceballos 36 5-16 8-11 7-11 2 3 18 McDyess 41 3-12 6-9 4-13 2 5 12 Williams 24 2-3 0-0 5-8 1 4 4 Kidd 39 4-9 1-1 1-5 8 3 11 Chapman 42 7-17 9-11 0-4 3 5 26 Manning 4 1-1 2-2 0-1 1 0 4 Robinson 23 1-8 2-4 3-4 0 4 4 Nash 24 5-10 5-5 1-1 1 2 16 Bryant 5 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 McCloud 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 29-81 33-43 21-47 18 28 97 Percentages: FG .358, FT .767. 3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Chapman 3-7, Kidd 2-4, Nash 1-2, Bryant 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Ceballos 0-2). Team Rebounds: 13. Blocked shots: 7 (Robinson 4, McDyess 2, Williams). Turnovers: 14 (McDyess 3, Kidd 3, Robinson 3, Nash 2, Ceballos, Williams, Chapman). Steals: 6 (Kidd 3, Chapman, Robinson, Nash). Technical foul: Coach Ainge, 6:07 second. Illegal defense: 1. Seattle 22 29 25 30 - 106 Phoenix 28 18 26 25 - 97 A-19,023 (19,023). T-2:18.