Sonics’ Bench Leads Way Past Hornets

Aaron Williams had a career-high 20 points and Gary Payton added 18 to lead the Seattle SuperSonics to a 102-81 victory over the Charlotte Hornets Tuesday night.

The Sonics won their sixth in a row and 12th in their past 13 games to improve their NBA-best record to 27-6.

Vlade Divac scored a season-best 25 points and Glen Rice had 19 for Charlotte, which beat Seattle twice last season.

Williams, a third-year pro signed as a free agent during the preseason, came off the bench to surpass his previous NBA best of 16 points. He shot 8 of 9 and had eight rebounds in 25 minutes.

The Sonics finished the game with a 22-4 run. The Hornets scored only 32 points on 13-of-39 shooting in the second half.

The Sonics’ bench outscored Charlotte’s 46-20.

The Sonics broke open the game by outscoring Charlotte 20-4 in the final 6:05 of the third quarter.

SuperSonics 102, Hornets 81

FG FT Reb CHARLOTTE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Mason 39 2-9 1-2 5-11 7 0 5 Rice 43 8-16 1-1 0-4 2 2 19 Divac 39 11-13 3-4 3-9 3 3 25 Phills 21 3-8 0-0 0-1 1 3 7 Wesley 25 2-8 0-0 1-1 4 4 5 Beck 11 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 Curry 20 1-6 0-0 1-2 1 3 3 Geiger 8 0-2 0-0 1-4 0 1 0 Armstrong 19 4-6 0-0 0-1 1 1 9 T.Williams 5 2-4 2-2 0-0 1 2 6 Reid 5 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 2 0 Farmer 5 0-1 2-2 1-2 1 0 2 Totals 240 33-76 9-11 13-37 22 22 81 Percentages: FG .434, FT .818.

3-Point Goals: 6-12, .500 (Rice 2-4, Phills 1-1, Armstrong 1-1, Curry 1-2, Wesley 1-4).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 4 (Divac 3, Geiger).

Turnovers: 18 (Mason 4, Divac 3, Wesley 3, Rice 2, Geiger 2, Armstrong, Curry, team 2).

Steals: 5 (Mason, Rice, Divac, Phills, T.Williams).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 32 4-10 1-3 2-6 0 2 9 Schrempf 31 3-6 6-6 2-6 3 2 12 McIlvaine 19 3-5 2-2 3-4 0 5 8 Hawkins 32 4-9 0-0 1-1 1 3 9 Payton 37 7-18 3-4 1-4 8 1 18 Perkins 18 2-4 2-2 0-2 1 0 8 Ellis 23 4-8 2-2 2-5 0 2 12 A.Williams 25 8-9 4-4 4-8 0 0 20 Wingate 10 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 2 Anthony 5 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 0 2 Snow 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Howard 4 0-1 2-2 0-1 1 0 2 Totals 240 37-74 22-25 15-38 17 16 102 Percentages: FG .500, FT .880.

3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Ellis 2-2, Perkins 2-4, Payton 1-4, Hawkins 1-5, Schrempf 0-1, McIlvaine 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 7 (McIlvaine 3, Baker 2, Perkins, A.Williams).

Turnovers: 13 (Baker 3, Hawkins 3, Snow 2, Schrempf, McIlvaine, Payton, Ellis, A.Williams).

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

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

Charlotte 27 22 13 19 - 81

Seattle 29 22 28 23 - 102

A-17,072 (17,072). T-1:59.