Supersonics Win, Leave Philly Behind Security Comes Under Question After Rowdy Fan Comes On Court

The Seattle SuperSonics were lucky to get out of the CoreStates Center on Sunday night. No, not lucky to get out with a win, which they did, just lucky to get out.

It felt like a mob scene during the Sonics’ 112-105 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers - after which players complained about the lack of control of more than a few of the 16,457 fans, and Sonics coach George Karl said he likely will call the league today to have them look into the security situation.

Seattle players were heckled all night by fans, particularly a group directly behind the Seattle bench and a group of three men across from the bench three rows back at midcourt.

But the situation came to a head when, with less than a minute to go and Detlef Schrempf shooting free throws, one of the three men came out of the stands, ran onto the sidelines and starting threatening Sonics point guard Gary Payton, who was standing less than a foot away from him.

The man yelled at Payton for about a full minute before security personnel reacted and escorted him out of the building. However, before leaving the courtside area, the man hit a female fan in the side of the head.

“Was I worried?” Payton said. “I wasn’t worried. Look, I’m from the ‘hood in Oakland, California, and I’ve seen a lot worse things than this fool. If he’d swung, I’d have taken him out. The league can’t do nothing about that if I’m defending myself. The fan had a few too many beers and was jawing with me. But they got to get more security here. I wasn’t worried for my life or nothing but you never know when someone is going to jump you.”

SuperSonics 112, 76ers 105

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 38 4-10 9-10 2-6 6 1 17 Baker 41 12-24 1-4 8-12 1 5 25 A.Williams 18 1-4 0-0 3-5 1 1 2 Hawkins 30 4-11 7-9 1-2 3 2 18 Payton 38 6-14 3-5 0-3 14 2 16 Perkins 21 2-9 6-6 1-3 1 3 10 Ellis 18 3-6 3-3 1-1 0 3 11 Kersey 23 5-8 1-2 1-4 3 3 11 McIlvaine 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Anthony 10 1-2 0-2 0-1 0 2 2 Totals 240 38-88 30-41 17-37 29 23 112

Percentages: FG .432, FT .732.

3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Hawkins 3-7, Ellis 2-3, Payton 1-3, Perkins 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 14 Blocked shots: 4 (Baker 2, Payton, Kersey).

Turnovers: 16 (Payton 3, Ellis 3, Schrempf 2, Baker 2, A.Williams 2, Anthony 2, Hawkins, McIlvaine).

Steals: 17 (Payton 6, Perkins 3, Schrempf 2, A.Williams 2, Hawkins, 2 Kersey 2).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb PHILADELPHIA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Jackson 36 1-6 2-2 2-6 8 2 4 Coleman 26 6-10 5-6 0-5 0 4 17 Montross 10 0-1 0-0 0-4 0 5 0 Stackhouse 37 8-14 0-1 0-2 1 3 17 Iverson 40 10-16 2-4 0-5 10 2 23 Weatherspoon 31 4-5 3-4 3-13 1 4 11 S.Williams 13 2-5 0-0 1-4 1 4 4 Thomas 11 5-7 1-2 0-0 0 1 12 Cummings 16 3-4 1-2 0-0 0 2 7 Davis 12 2-3 2-2 1-3 4 0 6 Overton 8 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 4 Totals 240 43-73 16-23 7-42 26 29 105

Percentages: FG .589, FT .696.

3-Point Goals: 3-9, .333 (Stackhouse 1-2, Iverson 1-2, Thomas 1-3, Jackson 0-1, Coleman 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 5 Blocked shots: 8 (Coleman 3, Stackhouse 2, Montross, Weatherspoon, Davis).

Turnovers: 27 (Jackson 5, Davis 4, Coleman 3, Stackhouse 3, Overton 3, Iverson 2, Weatherspoon 2, S.Williams 2, Thomas 2, Cummings) Steals: 8 (Stackhouse 3, Iverson 2, Jackson, Coleman, Overton).

Technical fouls: S.Williams, :48 first; Iverson, 2:04 second. Coach Brown, 9:48 fourth. Illegal Defense, 9:48 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 24 34 30 24 - 000

Philadelphia 26 31 20 28 - 000

A-16,457 (20,444). T-2:10.