Sonics Dump Pacers Cummings May Sign Monday With Seattle

Maybe Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins and the rest of the Seattle SuperSonics were trying to impress a future teammate.

With Terry Cummings watching the game from a courtside seat, the Sonics won their fifth straight game Saturday night with a 92-82 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

If he passes a physical, Cummings said he will sign with the Sonics on Monday. The 14-year veteran had to be impressed with the Sonics’ smothering defense that keyed their 10th victory in 12 games.

Led by Schrempf’s four steals, Seattle forced 23 turnovers and held Reggie Miller to 11 points.

“We wanted to come out aggressive and put pressure on the ball,” Schrempf said.

Because of that pressure, Miller took only eight shots in 33 minutes. Other than Rik Smits’ 20-point performance, the Pacers struggled.

“They’re not a good offensive team except for Reggie,” Schrempf said.

Hawkins led the Sonics with 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting. He scored 10 points in the opening quarter and seven in the fourth quarter when Seattle opened a 90-76 lead with 2 minutes remaining.

Sonics coach George Karl lauded Hawkins for his overall play.

“Hersey had one of the better defensive games I’ve seen this year on Miller,” Karl said. “I also think that defensive effort carried over onto the offensive end.”

In the Pacers’ two-game, regular-season sweep of the Sonics last season, Miller averaged 31.5 points per game. After hitting a 3-pointer in the opening 2 minutes Saturday, he managed only two baskets the rest of the game.

“Reggie’s so offensive-minded, Hawk’s defensive play shows how underrated he is as a defender,” Sam Perkins said. “Hawk’s also an offensive threat.”

Smits was effective, hitting 9 of 16 shots and grabbing 13 rebounds, while Sonics center Jim McIlvaine blocked four shots and scored six points.

Schrempf, traded from Indiana to Seattle in exchange for Derrick McKey on Nov. 1, 1993, added four of Seattle’s 12 steals in 43 minutes.

McKey, meanwhile, had a nightmarish game. He scored five points on 2 for 13 shooting in 35 minutes.

Although the Pacers outrebounded the Sonics 44-33, Seattle’s swarming defense offset that by forcing Indiana into turnovers that resulted in 30 points.

The Sonics opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run for a 77-63 lead. The Pacers didn’t get within single digits the rest of the way.

Miller said the start of the fourth quarter ended the Pacers’ comeback chances. “Every time we seemed to get close, they came up with a big spurt. The start of the fourth quarter killed us.”

Notes

It was the third time this season that Shawn Kemp or Gary Payton didn’t lead the Sonics in scoring… . Indiana’s Dale Davis didn’t dress because of a sore neck suffered Friday night against Denver… . The win was the Sonics’ first over Indiana since Nov. 28, 1994… . Erik Dampier and Jalen Rose combined for 21 points off the bench for the Pacers.

SuperSonics 92, Pacers 82

FG FT Reb INDIANA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts A.Davis 36 8-14 1-1 2-7 1 4 17 McKey 35 2-13 1-1 4-6 5 3 5 Smits 30 9-16 2-4 7-13 1 2 20 Best 27 1-7 0-0 0-2 3 4 2 Miller 33 3-8 2-2 1-5 0 1 11 Allen 14 1-4 0-0 0-2 2 0 3 Dampier 18 4-7 2-4 0-3 1 1 10 Johnson 5 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Askew 19 0-3 0-0 0-3 2 2 0 Rose 18 3-4 4-4 1-2 0 1 11 Ferrell 5 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 3 Totals 240 32-79 12-16 16-44 15 18 82

Percentages: FG .405, FT .750.

3-Point Goals: 6-15, .400 (Miller 3-5, Ferrell 1-1, Rose 1-2, Allen 1-2, A.Davis 0-1, McKey 0-2, Best 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 8.

Blocked shots: 8 (A.Davis 2, Smits 2, Dampier 2, McKey, Miller).

Turnovers: 23 (A.Davis 5, Askew 3, Best 3, McKey 2, Miller 2, Dampier 2, Rose 2, Smits, Johnson, Ferrell, team).

Steals: 11 (Best 3, A.Davis 2, Miller 2, Rose 2, Allen, Dampier).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 37 4-11 9-10 2-7 0 2 17 Schrempf 43 8-15 0-0 3-8 12 1 18 McIlvaine 28 2-5 2-2 0-3 1 4 6 Hawkins 32 9-12 0-0 1-4 2 5 19 Payton 27 5-15 0-1 1-3 3 5 10 Snow 25 3-8 0-0 0-1 2 0 6 Perkins 19 2-9 0-0 0-4 1 2 6 Ehlo 7 1-1 0-2 0-0 1 0 3 Wingate 20 3-4 0-0 1-2 1 1 7 Stewart 2 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Totals 240 37-80 11-15 8-33 23 20 92

Percentages: FG .463, FT .733.

3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Schrempf 2-4, Perkins 2-6, Hawkins 1-1, Ehlo 1-1, Wingate 1-1, Snow 0-1, Payton 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 6 (McIlvaine 4, Snow, Perkins).

Turnovers: 18 (Schrempf 6, Payton 3, Hawkins 3, Kemp 2, McIlvaine 2, Snow, Wingate).

Steals: 12 (Schrempf 4, Kemp 2, McIlvaine 2, Hawkins 2, Perkins, Wingate).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

Indiana 20 19 24 19 - 82

Seattle 25 31 16 20 - 92

A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:03.