Sonics Shake Off Sorry Second Seattle Ends Two-Game Skid Despite 10-Point Second Quarter Vs. Sixers

Shawn Kemp scored 23 points and Hersey Hawkins and Gary Payton had 21 each as the Seattle SuperSonics rallied after a dismal second quarter and beat the Philadelphia 76ers 96-82 Thursday night.

The Sonics won after trailing by five points in the third quarter and shooting only 3 for 19 from the floor in the second period.

Detlef Schrempf added 17 points for the Sonics, who ended a two-game losing streak that capped a December in which they went 7-8 - their first losing month under coach George Karl.

Derrick Coleman had 22 points and season-highs of 20 rebounds and five blocked shots, four in the opening quarter, for the 76ers.

Philadelphia lost for the 13th time in 14 games.

The Sonics swept their two-game series with Philadelphia for the fourth straight season and beat Philadelphia for the ninth time in a row, but it wasn’t easy.

The Sonics scored only 10 points - equalling their season low - in the second quarter, and the Sixers led 57-52 with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

Kemp’s second 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in the third period gave the Sonics a 61-60 lead, and the Sonics pulled steadily away in the fourth.

Seattle led 76-70 with 6:31 left before Kemp made two free throws and Payton scored on a fastbreak layup. After two free throws by Allen Iverson, Kemp made two more free throws and Hawkins connected on a fastbreak 18-footer for an 84-72 lead with 4:55 to go.

With 33.5 seconds left, Coleman and Schrempf went nose-to-nose after Coleman shoved Schrempf with an elbow. Each was assessed a technical foul.

After shooting only 21 percent (6 for 28) and trailing 29-16 after one quarter, the 76ers outscored the Sonics 15-3 in the final 6:16 of the second period for a 42-39 lead at halftime.

Iverson wowed the KeyArena crowd with two spectacular plays in the first half. First, he dunked off a lob pass by Coleman. Next, he had another slam after Coleman missed a 3-pointer.

Iverson finished with 20 points on 8-for-21 shooting with seven of Philadelphia’s 22 turnovers.

Notes

The Sonics outrebounded the 76ers 15-6 in the final quarter after being outrebounded 46-22 through the first three quarters… . The 76ers had nine turnovers in the first quarter. .. Payton also had 10 assists and eight rebounds.

xxxx

This sidebar appeared with the story: Sonics 96, 76ers 82 FG FT Reb PHILA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Coleman 42 7-21 8-11 8-20 3 4 22 W’spoon 30 0-6 2-2 3-7 2 2 2 Williams 16 2-4 0-0 4-8 0 4 4 Iverson 43 8-21 2-6 2-5 5 2 20 Stackhouse 42 6-17 3-4 3-5 3 2 15 Walters 5 1-4 2-2 0-0 0 0 5 Cage 27 2-2 2-2 0-2 0 4 6 Davis 6 0-2 0-0 0-1 1 1 0 Harris 24 3-6 2-2 0-3 0 1 8 Bradtke 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Hendrickson 1 0-0 0-2 0-1 0 0 0 Overton 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 29-84 21-31 20-52 14 21 82 Percentages: FG .345, FT .677. 3-Point Goals: 3-14, .214 (Iverson 2-8, Walters 1-2, Coleman 0-1, Davis 0-1, Stackhouse 0-2). Team Rebounds: 16. Blocked shots: 7 (Coleman 5, Stackhouse 2). Turnovers: 22 (Iverson 7, Coleman 4, Stackhouse 4, Weatherspoon 3, team 2, Walters, Cage). Steals: 8 (Iverson 3, Stackhouse 2, Harris 2, Cage). Technical fouls: Coleman, :33.5 third. Illegal defense: None. FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 39 5-13 11-14 6-12 0 3 23 Schrempf 44 7-17 1-2 1-8 5 2 17 McIlvaine 22 1-3 0-0 2-6 0 6 2 Hawkins 37 9-17 0-0 1-6 5 2 21 Payton 41 10-27 1-2 4-8 10 3 21 Perkins 18 2-5 2-2 0-3 0 1 6 Wingate 16 2-3 0-0 0-1 1 5 4 Snow 13 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 3 2 Ehlo 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Stewart 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Harvey 1 0-1 0-0 1-3 0 0 0 Totals 240 37-92 15-20 15-47 22 25 96 Percentages: FG .402, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 7-19, .368 (Hawkins 3-7, Kemp 2-2, Schrempf 2-5, Ehlo 0-1, Payton 0-2, Perkins 0-2). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked shots: 6 (McIlvaine 3, Kemp 2, Hawkins). Turnovers: 12 (Hawkins 3, Schrempf 3, Kemp 2, McIlvaine, Payton, Perkins, Wingate). Steals: 14 (Payton 4, Hawkins 4, Snow 2, Kemp 2, Schrempf, Wingate). Technical fouls: Schrempf, :33.5 third. Illegal defense: 1. Philadelphia 16 26 18 22 - 82 Seattle 29 10 22 35 - 96 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:09.