Sonics Just Plain Better Seattle’s Defenders Contain New Jersey

They are in many ways the Eastern Conference equivalent of the Sonics.

The New Jersey Nets like to trap and pressure the post on defense. Offensively, they feast on fast break chances and hoist 3-pointers with the best of them.

The problem, though, for New Jersey Sunday night at KeyArena was twofold. Not only did the Nets run into this season’s winningest team, but it happened to be a Sonics team that performs all of those chores a tad bit better.

Watching New Jersey coach John Calipari during the Sonics’ 97-87 victory was like witnessing a child’s tantrum over a toy. He jumped from his bench seat often, stomped both feet regularly and screamed as though someone had taken away something dear.

Meanwhile, the Sonics methodically improved their NBA-best record to 36-10. The Sonics also won for the seventh straight time at home.

“Our game plan was simply to control them,” Sonics coach George Karl said. “They play a great deal of one-on-one basketball. We had as much of a straight-up game as we’ve had in a while. We just slowed down in the end.”

In command from the opening tip, the Sonics remained in control the entire game. New Jersey never led. The Nets got within 80-78 with 5 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, but the Sonics strung together a 17-9 run that wrapped up the victory.

This time the Sonics won because of their rebounding, and not despite it. In the teams’ first meeting Dec. 3, the Sonics won even though they were beaten by 25 on the boards.

Sunday night, the Sonics outrebounded New Jersey 44-36, and held the Nets to 39-percent shooting.

“Any time a team beats you in a statistical category, you come back with an attitude and focus,” said Sonics forward Vin Baker, who led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds. “Not only to stay with them, but to beat them.”

The Sonics, though, abandoned their usual rotating schemes most of the night in order to stay close to the Nets on the boards. Baker and Detlef Schrempf combined for 22 rebounds and outplayed New Jersey’s frontline of Jayson Williams and Keith Van Horn. They finished with a combined 34 points and just 14 boards.

“We needed to rebound,” said Schrempf, who added 20 points.

“They are going to come in and take all kinds of wild shots. So when we rebound, it gets us a lot of easy shots because we start running.”

The Sonics are 15-1 when they beat their opponent on the glass.

“It’s just gang rebounding,” Sonic guard Hersey Hawkins said.

The Sonics got their first look at the Nets’ rookie, Van Horn. The 6-foot-10 forward from Utah was absent, though, early in the game. He missed five of his first six shots, two of which Baker blocked.

Van Horn got so frustrated on one Sonics fast break that he just held Baker and was whistled for a foul.

Sonics 97, Nets 87

FG FT Reb

N.J. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Gill 27 3-10 1-5 0-3 2 0 7 Van Horn 32 6-13 4-4 0-5 1 5 17 J.Williams 39 7-12 3-5 5-9 2 3 17 Cassell 26 2-11 0-0 0-5 9 4 4 Kittles 30 5-13 0-0 1-4 1 3 12 Benoit 20 3-9 4-4 0-3 0 2 10 Douglas 24 2-6 5-6 1-1 1 3 9 Cage 9 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Harris 17 0-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 0 Gatling 16 4-5 3-3 3-4 2 1 11 Totals 240 32-82 20-27 10-36 19 22 87 Percentages: FG .390, FT .741.

3-Point Goals: 3-17, .176 (Kittles 2-3, Van Horn 1-3, Douglas 0-1, Harris 0-1, Gill 0-2, Cassell 0-3, Benoit 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 2 (Gill, Van Horn).

Turnovers: 11 (Van Horn 3, Cassell 3, Gatling 2, Benoit, team 2).

Steals: 8 (Gill 2, Cassell 2, Williams, Douglas, Harris, Gatling).

Technical foul: Harris, 11:21 4th.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 35 9-14 6-9 5-9 1 5 24 Schrempf 38 7-14 3-4 2-13 2 3 20 McIlvaine 15 1-3 0-0 1-3 0 3 2 Hawkins 35 3-8 1-2 1-7 6 0 7 Payton 43 5-12 3-4 1-2 14 2 14 Ellis 27 6-9 1-1 0-3 0 4 16 Perkins 27 3-5 1-2 0-5 1 1 9 Anthony 12 1-2 0-0 0-1 2 4 2 Wingate 4 1-2 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 A.Williams 4 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Totals 240 36-69 16-24 10-44 27 25 97 Percentages: FG .522, FT .667.

3-Point Goals: 9-20, .450 (Schrempf 3-3, Ellis 3-4, Perkins 2-4, Payton 1-5, Anthony 0-1, Hawkins 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 8.

Blocked shots: 7 (McIlvaine 5, Baker 2).

Turnovers: 17 (Payton 6, Baker 3, Schrempf 2, Ellis 2, Anthony 2, Williams, team).

Steals: 7 (Baker 2, Schrempf, McIlvaine, Payton, Ellis, Perkins).

Technical fouls: Ellis, 3:31 2nd; Payton, 11:21 4th.

Illegal defense: None.

New Jersey 16 18 26 27 - 87

Seattle 25 23 24 25 - 97

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

Lakers 112, Bulls 87

At Inglewood, Calif.

Chicago (87) - Rodman 0-3 0-0 0, Pippen 5-10 2-2 13, Longley 4-8 2-2 10, Jordan 11-26 9-12 31, Harper 1-4 0-0 2, Kleine 0-4 1-2 1, Kukoc 1-2 0-0 2, Buechler 0-2 0-0 0, Brown 2-7 0-0 4, Burrell 6-13 1-2 15, Wennington 1-5 0-0 2, Caffey 2-2 3-5 7. Totals 33-86 18-25 87.

L.A. Lakers (112) - Blount 2-2 3-6 7, Fox 10-15 1-1 25, O’Neal 8-14 8-13 24, Jones 8-20 1-2 20, Fisher 4-7 0-0 8, Bryant 7-16 4-7 20, Bennett 0-1 0-2 0, Campbell 3-4 0-2 6, Barry 0-1 0-0 0, Rooks 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 42-81 19-35 112.

Chicago 23 30 11 23 - 87

L.A. Lakers 26 31 34 21 - 112

3-Point goals-Chicago 3-9 (Burrell 2-4, Pippen 1-3, Jordan 0-1, Buechler 0-1), Los Angeles 9-23 (Fox 4-8, Jones 3-8, Bryant 2-6, Barry 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Chicago 58 (Rodman 15), Los Angeles 57 (Blount 13). Assists-Chicago 23 (Pippen, Brown 5), Los Angeles 29 (Fisher, Blount 7). Total fouls-Chicago 26, Los Angeles 19. Technicals-Burrell. A-17,505 (17,505).