Sonics Land On Grizzlies With Many 3s Seattle Achieves Its Fifth Straight Victory On Road

If the NBA kept track of consecutive 3-pointers made, the Seattle SuperSonics probably would have broken the record Sunday night.

The Sonics hit their first 12 3-point attempts and finished 13-for-16 from behind the arc in a 120-108 victory over the Vancouver Grizzlies.

“It was just one of those nights,” Gary Payton said.

“We’re not going to look back at this and say we’re a 3-point shooting team, because we’re not. We’re a defensive team and that’s what we’re doing.”

Seattle won its fifth straight on the road, its fourth straight overall and its eighth in a row against the Grizzlies.

Hersey Hawkins was 5 for 5, Payton was 3 for 4, Detlef Schrempf and Sam Perkins were each 2 for 2 and Greg Anthony was 1 for 3 from 3-point range.

While the NBA doesn’t keep records for consecutive 3-point shots, the Indiana Pacers hold the record for most 3s without a miss in one game - 7-for-7 against Atlanta on Jan. 20, 1995.

After Payton hit his third straight 3-point shot 17 seconds into the fourth quarter, Seattle’s perfect streak ended when he missed a 25-footer a half-minute later.

Seattle finished six short of the NBA record of 19 3-pointers set by Atlanta against Dallas on Dec. 17, 1996.

“It’s a lot of fun,” coach George Karl said. “The big key is that players were very confident that they were going to get the ball out there. ‘Hawk’ (Hawkins) was making them in the running game and Dale (Ellis) can make them from anywhere from any time.

“It was a great show. And then Gary throws in a couple, too.”

That’s not to say Karl was totally satisfied.

As he put it, he got “offensive” in ripping his team at the halftime break when the Sonics gave up 65 points to trail 65-56.

“I don’t think I can repeat what I told them,” said Karl. “I was highly offensive at halftime. I was embarrassed by 65 points. And they responded. They showed a lot of pride.”

Vin Baker, who led Seattle with 30 points, was asked what Karl told the team: “Listen, I’m a minister’s son, I don’t repeat those kind of things.”

The Sonics limited the Grizzlies to 20 points while scoring 43 of their own in the third period to put the game away.

Payton, Hawkins and Schrempf scored 11 points each in the quarter. All three finished with 22 points.

Seattle, in the midst of a 16-2 run, took the lead for good when Hawkins hit a 3-point basket 4-1/2 minutes into the third period to give the Sonics a 73-71 edge.

The Grizzlies lost their sixth straight and ninth of their last 10 outings.

SuperSonics 120, Grizzlies 108

FG FT Reb

SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 36 10-12 0-0 2-7 8 3 22 Baker 39 12-16 6-11 2-7 3 5 30 McIlvaine 16 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 2 0 Hawkins 34 5-7 7-8 0-2 4 3 22 Payton 32 8-16 3-4 0-2 9 3 22 Perkins 20 2-4 2-2 0-6 1 1 8 Ellis 26 5-8 1-2 0-0 2 1 11 Williams 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Wingate 12 0-3 0-0 0-1 0 3 0 Anthony 16 2-8 0-0 0-1 3 0 5 Howard 3 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 1 0 Snow 1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Totals 240 44-75 19-27 4-30 31 24 120 Percentages: FG .587, FT .704.

3-Point Goals: 13-16, .813 (Hawkins 5-5, Payton 3-4, Schrempf 2-2, Perkins 2-2, Anthony 1-3).

Team Rebounds: 6.

Blocked shots: 4 (McIlvaine 4).

Turnovers: 16 (Baker 4, Schrempf 2, Payton 2, Perkins 2, Anthony 2, McIlvaine, Ellis, Wingate, Howard).

Steals: 13 (Payton 4, Ellis 3, McIlvaine 2, Schrempf, Baker, Hawkins, Anthony).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 4:34 first; illegal defense, 4:57 second.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb VANCOUVER Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Abdur-Rahim 36 9-17 3-5 3-9 4 2 21 Thorpe 36 3-10 2-6 1-6 6 5 8 Reeves 26 2-3 2-4 3-7 0 4 6 Mack 29 9-14 1-1 0-2 0 4 21 Daniels 30 5-7 1-4 0-0 5 1 11 Chilcutt 24 3-9 3-4 4-10 4 0 9 Edwards 19 4-10 0-1 1-2 3 3 8 Lynch 22 6-7 3-4 2-6 3 3 17 Mayberry 18 3-6 0-0 0-1 3 1 7 Totals 240 44-83 15-29 14-43 28 23 108 Percentages: FG .530, FT .517.

3-Point Goals: 5-11, .455 (Lynch 2-2, Mack 2-4, Mayberry 1-2, Daniels 0-1, Chilcutt 0-1, Edwards 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 13.

Blocked shots: 2 (Abdur-Rahim, Daniels).

Turnovers: 18 (Mack 4, Abdur-Rahim 3, Thorpe 3, Reeves 2, Daniels 2, Chilcutt 2, Mayberry 2).

Steals: 8 (Abdur-Rahim 4, Thorpe, Chilcutt, Edwards, Mayberry).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, :21.8 second; illegal defense, 10:37 third; illegal defense, 6:37 third, coach Hill, 1:48 third.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 28 28 43 21 - 120

Vancouver 35 30 20 23 - 108

A-15,122 (19,193). T-2:10.