Sonics Fight Off Mistakes

It was a made shot that everyone will remember from this game, a 16-foot jumper by Gary Payton with .3 seconds left that lifted the Seattle SuperSonics to an 89-87 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

But it was a lot of missed shots by the Jazz, a lot of fruitless possessions and a lot of plays gone awry, thanks to Seattle’s relentless defense, that made this game memorable.

Seattle’s triumph in front of a typically riotous crowd of 19,911 at the Delta Center, the Sonics’ sixth in a row since the All-Star break, was another testament that this team is once again playing the type of break-neck, trap-at-will defense that the rest of the NBA fears.

Utah, which started the game shooting an NBA-best 49.4 percent, was flummoxed most of the two hours and 41 minutes it took to complete the playoff-intense game. The Jazz made only 30 of 72 shots (41.7 percent) and its 78 points in regulation was its third-lowest total of the year.

Sunday’s game came on the heels of Friday night’s handcuffing of the New York Knicks, who scored only 64 points, an all-time low for a Seattle opponent. In the six games since the All-Star break, Seattle is allowing an average of 86 points a game.

“Defense is what’s making us win these games,” said Payton, who scored a team-high 28 points, nine in overtime. “We have a lot of confidence in each other now. That was our main problem before, we weren’t having confidence in each other. But now we are just playing and not worrying about who will rotate. Now, people are already there.”

Seattle improved its record to 38-15 and moved a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Pacific Division.

The Sonics’ first victory over Utah this season also got them into a tie with the Jazz for the best record in the Western Conference.

Utah, which lost the 1996 Western Conference championship series to Seattle, had won the first three games between the two teams this season, including a 99-95 victory at KeyArena on Feb. 5, the last game before the All-Star break.

After that contest, Sonics coach George Karl said his team had lost the attitude it had last year, when it advanced to the NBA Finals. He said there was too much bickering and finger-pointing.

On Sunday, when Payton’s shot nestled into the bottom of the net, that all seemed as forgotten as Elmore Spencer.

Since the All-Star break, Seattle has beaten the three other top teams in the West - Houston, the Lakers and Utah, the latter two on the road - as well as the Knicks, one of the Eastern Conference elite.

“We’ve played with a purpose,” guard Hersey Hawkins said, “going out there and feeling that we have to prove something again; that we have to get back to the status we had last year. We felt we had lost a little respect in the first half of the season. I don’t think the league looked at us as a favorite to come out of the West anymore, and that was a rude awakening. We want to prove that we are back to being one of those teams.”

The Sonics knew the road back started on the defensive end.

After falling behind 6-0, Seattle outscored Utah 24-10 the rest of the first quarter, setting the tone for the game. A Utah team that had won seven in a row, 15 of 17, and had a 25-2 home record, inevitably made some runs at the Sonics. But unlike the Sonics’ games in the first half of the season against the few good teams in the NBA, they answered every challenge.

The biggest test came after Utah forced overtime when Bryon Russell hit a 3-pointer with 22.1 seconds left. It was his first field goal of the day. Seattle had a chance to win in regulation, but Detlef Schrempf - who had schooled Russell most of the day - missed an 8-footer in traffic as time ran out.

Utah scored the first basket of the overtime on a dunk by Russell, and after a Hawkins turnover, had another chance to score. But Russell missed a hurried 3-pointer, Payton responded with a 3-pointer on the Seattle end, and the Sonics never trailed the rest of the way.

“When Gary hit that 3, that got us believing that we were going to win the game,” Karl said. “We need to win some close games and we finally got one.”

Still, two free throws by Antoine Carr tied the game with 20.8 seconds left, setting up the winning shot.

SuperSonics 89, Jazz 87 (OT)

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 43 8-13 4-5 0-7 3 3 20 Kemp 35 1-8 1-2 1-6 2 6 3 McIlvaine 10 1-2 0-2 1-4 0 4 2 Hawkins 45 3-7 3-3 1-6 4 4 10 Payton 50 11-26 4-7 1-4 3 3 28 Perkins 36 5-7 3-4 0-4 1 2 15 McMillan 19 1-3 0-0 0-2 3 3 2 Cummings 21 3-8 0-1 2-5 0 2 6 Ehlo 5 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 Snow 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 265 34-77 15-24 6-38 16 27 89 Percentages: FG .442, FT .625.

3-Point Goals: 6-15, .400 (Perkins 2-3, Payton 2-5, Ehlo 1-2, Hawkins 1-3, Kemp 0-1, McMillan 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 12.

Blocked shots: 4 (McIlvaine 3, Kemp).

Turnovers: 15 (Hawkins 5, Kemp 3, Schrempf 2, Payton 2, McMillan 2, Ehlo).

Steals: 9 (McMillan 3, Hawkins 2, Schrempf, Kemp, Payton, Perkins).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 7:34 fourth; Schrempf, :20.8 overtime.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb UTAH Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Russell 35 2-8 1-4 0-2 3 3 6 Malone 45 13-28 6-7 3-10 0 3 32 Ostertag 22 3-6 5-7 2-6 0 1 11 Hornacek 37 1-7 3-3 2-6 5 4 5 Stockton 43 3-9 3-5 0-5 12 3 9 Eisley 10 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 Anderson 17 2-3 0-0 0-3 0 2 4 Carr 20 2-4 4-4 0-2 1 4 8 Morris 18 2-2 0-0 0-2 0 1 4 Foster 8 1-2 0-0 0-3 0 2 2 Howard 10 0-0 3-4 1-4 0 1 3 Totals 265 30-72 25-34 8-43 22 26 87 Percentages: FG .417, FT .735.

3-Point Goals: 2-14, .143 (Eisley 1-1, Russell 1-6, Carr 0-1, Hornacek 0-2, Stockton 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 11 (Ostertag 4, Malone 3, Stockton 3, Howard).

Turnovers: 14 (Stockton 3, Anderson 3, Hornacek 2, Eisley 2, Morris 2, Russell, Malone).

Steals: 11 (Russell 3, Malone 2, Hornacek 2, Morris 2, Stockton, Anderson).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 9:39 fourth; Russell, :20.8, overtime.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 24 19 18 17 11 - 89

Utah 16 25 22 15 9 - 87

A-19,911 (19,911). T-2:41.