Kj, Kidd Put Skids To Sonics Johnson Produces 31 Points As Phoenix Slips Past Seattle

If Kevin Johnson is true to his word, he gave fans quite a show in his last regular-season appearance in Seattle.

Johnson scored 31 points and made a career-high six 3-point baskets as the Phoenix Suns won their fifth straight road game, 109-107 over the Sonics.

Earlier this year, he said this is his final season. When asked Wednesday if he’ll retire after the season, Johnson, 31, didn’t answer directly.

“My energy is focused on making the best of the rest of this season and getting the team into the playoffs,” he said.

The Suns are seventh in the Western Conference playoff picture. If the season ended today, the Suns and Sonics would meet in a first-round series.

That is a prospect Suns coach Danny Ainge isn’t concerned about.

“We’re not trying to send signals to anybody,” Ainge said. “We’re just trying to make the playoffs.”

Johnson was 9 for 14 from the field and 6 for 10 from 3-point range. Jason Kidd scored the winning basket on a feed from Rex Chapman with 2.9 seconds left.

“The ball bounced our way,” Kidd said. “In the past, we lose this game.”

Kidd was correct: The Suns are 3-11 in games decided by three points or fewer.

Gary Payton’s 14-foot jumper gave the Sonics a 103-97 lead with 3:44 left. But the Suns defense stifled Seattle, and the Suns’ long-distance shooters rallied Phoenix to its first victory over Seattle since April 23, 1995.

Wesley Person tied the game with a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left. Shawn Kemp missed a 10-footer and the Suns called a timeout with 10.8 seconds left.

After Kidd’s layup gave Phoenix the lead, Seattle had one chance to tie the game. The Sonics inbounded the ball to Sam Perkins, but Kidd made a game-saving steal.

Hersey Hawkins led the Sonics with 22 points. Payton had 19 points before he fouled out with 1:35 left.

Rex Chapman and Wayman Tisdale added 20 points each for the Suns.

Notes

Sam Perkins played in his 1,000th career game… . Cedric Ceballos missed the game with a strained right patella tendon. He had a second MRI examination Wednesday and it was negative… . Kemp needs 19 points to reach 10,000 in his career… . Both teams shot over 50 percent in the game. It is the third straight game the Sonics have made more than half of their field goal attempts.

Suns 109 SuperSonics 107

FG FT Reb PHOENIX Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Chapman 37 6-22 6-6 1-3 2 1 20 Tisdale 30 10-12 0-1 1-3 0 4 20 Williams 44 2-5 5-7 3-9 2 4 9 Johnson 44 9-14 7-8 1-5 7 3 31 Kidd 44 4-9 2-4 0-7 15 2 12 Manning 24 4-4 0-1 0-3 1 3 8 Person 15 3-9 0-0 1-3 0 0 9 Llamas 2 0-0 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 38-75 20-29 7-33 27 17 109

Percentages: FG .507, FT .690.

3-Point Goals: 13-31, .419 (Johnson 6-10, Person 3-5, Kidd 2-5, Chapman 2-11).

Team Rebounds: 10 Blocked shots: 4 (Williams 3, Manning).

Turnovers: 17 (Johnson 6, Chapman 3, Manning 3, Tisdale 2, Kidd 2, Williams).

Steals: 8 (Kidd 6, Johnson, Chapman).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 37 7-12 3-4 2-7 4 4 17 Stewart 17 2-5 0-0 0-2 1 3 4 McIlvaine 13 0-1 0-0 1-3 1 4 0 Hawkins 41 8-13 5-6 1-2 4 1 22 Payton 40 9-20 0-0 2-9 6 6 19 McMillan 28 5-10 0-0 1-5 4 3 13 Perkins 27 4-10 10-10 2-5 1 0 18 Wingate 21 1-3 0-0 0-1 2 2 2 Cummings 15 6-7 0-1 1-5 2 2 12 Snow 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 240 42-81 18-21 10-39 25 26 107

Percentages: FG .519, FT .857.

3-Point Goals: 5-21, .238 (McMillan 3-8, Payton 1-2, Hawkins 1-4, Perkins 0-2, Wingate 0-2, Stewart 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 6 Blocked shots: 5 (McIlvaine 3, Kemp, Hawkins).

Turnovers: 16 (Payton 5, Hawkins 3, McIlvaine 3, Kemp 2, Perkins 2, Stewart).

Steals: 15 (Payton 5, McMillan 3, Hawkins 2, Perkins 2, Wingate, Kemp, Stewart).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

Phoenix 34 23 26 26 - 109 Seattle 24 35 24 24 - 107

A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:09.

Officials-Jack Nies, Nolan Fine, Bennie Adams.