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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sonics Crack 50 Wins Again Payton, Hawkins Lead 25th Straight Victory Over Wolves

Associated Press

Minnesota lost to Seattle for the 25th straight time, but Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders saw encouraging signs.

Gary Payton and Hersey Hawkins scored 20 points apiece as the SuperSonics beat the Timberwolves 92-81 Friday night.

“We played more competitively, and that’s a positive you have to look at when you lose to someone 25 times in a row,” Saunders said.

Hawkins scored 16 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer that put Seattle ahead for good late in the third quarter.

“It’s nice to keep them down when you have a team’s number,” Hawkins said.

Minnesota’s last win over Seattle was March 15, 1991. Current Wolves stars Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury were both 14 years old then.

“Any time you beat someone that many times in a row, something has to give sometime,” Sonics coach George Karl said. “I’m glad we’re done playing them. It scares me every time we play them.”

Payton, who also had 10 assists, hit a jumper as the shot clock expired with 1:37 left to give the Sonics an 89-79 lead. Hawkins followed with a layup after a Wolves’ turnover for a 91-79 advantage.

Dean Garrett led Minnesota with 18 points. Garnett had 17 points and nine rebounds, but scored only two points in the second half. Marbury had 15 points, eight assists and five turnovers.

Shawn Kemp had 14 points and 15 rebounds for Seattle, which reached the 50-victory mark for the fifth straight season.

Reserve Terry Cummings had 13 points and six rebounds for Seattle, including a baseline jumper that gave the Sonics a 78-68 lead. But Terry Porter’s 900th career 3-pointer drew the Wolves to 78-71 with 7:44 left.

Garrett’s basket put the Wolves ahead 61-60 with 2:10 left in the third quarter. It was Minnesota’s last lead.

Hawkins 3-point shot sparked an 8-3 run the rest of the period for a 68-64 lead after three quarters.

Garnett had six points, including two thundering dunks, in a 12-0 Timberwolves run for a 41-39 halftime lead.

Notes

The Sonics did not commit a foul in the first quarter. … Jim McIlvaine blocked three shots and had five rebounds in the first quarter. … Tom Gugliotta, who was 25 for 35 from the field in the first three meetings, was 5 for 14 from the field. … Warren Moon, who recently signed a contract with the Seattle Seahawks, attended the game. … Kemp needs three more points to reach the 10,000 career mark. … Karl said injured forward Detlef Schrempf played well in limited workouts the last two days, and the next step is for him to get in a five-on-five scrimmage. However, the team still won’t set a timetable for Schrempf’s return, although it could come Tuesday against the Lakers in KeyArena.

SuperSonics 92, Timberwolves 81

FG FT Reb MINNESOTA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Garnett 43 8-16 1-1 1-9 3 3 17 Gugliotta 44 5-14 3-5 3-7 7 2 13 Garrett 35 8-9 2-2 2-6 0 4 18 Marbury 40 4-14 5-6 0-2 8 1 15 West 36 3-6 0-0 1-2 5 5 6 Mitchell 13 0-0 0-0 2-4 0 4 0 Robinson 20 3-7 0-0 0-3 0 1 9 Porter 8 1-3 0-0 0-2 1 1 3 Jordan 1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Totals 240 32-69 11-14 9-36 24 21 81 Percentages: FG .464, FT .786.

3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Robinson 3-6, Marbury 2-7, Porter 1-3, West 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 5 Blocked shots: 6 (Garrett 3, Garnett, West, Mitchell).

Turnovers: 23 (Garnett 6, Marbury 5, Gugliotta 4, Garrett 2, Mitchell 2, Robinson 2, Porter, team).

Steals: 10 (Marbury 4, Gugliotta 2, Mitchell 2, Garnett, Garrett).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 37 6-14 2-4 8-15 2 2 14 Stewart 18 2-4 1-4 1-2 1 3 5 McIlvaine 21 3-7 0-0 6-7 1 0 6 Hawkins 37 6-12 4-4 0-1 2 1 20 Payton 44 9-20 0-0 0-4 10 2 20 McMillan 23 2-4 0-0 1-6 3 0 4 Perkins 15 2-8 0-0 2-4 0 1 5 Wingate 21 2-7 0-0 2-3 2 1 5 Cummings 22 3-7 7-9 2-6 1 3 13 Ehlo 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Snow 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 35-84 14-21 22-48 22 13 92 Percentages: FG .417, FT .667.

3-Point Goals: 8-24, .333 (Hawkins 4-7, Payton 2-6, Perkins 1-3, Wingate 1-3, Snow 0-1, McMillan 0-2, Stewart 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 7 Blocked shots: 6 (McIlvaine 3, Stewart 2, Kemp).

Turnovers: 17 (Kemp 7, Wingate 3, Hawkins 2, McMillan 2, Stewart, Payton, team).

Steals: 14 (Hawkins 4, Payton 3, McMillan 3, Kemp, Stewart, Wingate, Cummings).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

Minnesota 16 25 23 17 - 81

Seattle 19 20 29 24 - 92

A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:07.