Kemp’s Caveliers Bow To Payton’s Pace Former Sonic Endures Boos, 99-91 Defeat

Shawn Kemp was booed repeatedly in his return to Seattle and Gary Payton scored 28 points and had a decisive three-point play down the stretch Saturday night in the SuperSonics’ 99-91 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Boos rained down on Kemp, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Sonics, from the time he was introduced. They continued every time he touched the ball. He finished with 17 points, shooting 5-for-11, and had seven rebounds and three assists.

Payton scored on a layup and hit the free throw to give the Sonics a 92-85 lead with 2:17 left. Vin Baker had 21 points and six rebounds, Dale Ellis had 17 and Detlef Schrempf added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Rookie Cedric Henderson led the Cavs with a career-high 23 points and Wesley Person added 16.

Kemp scored 16 of his points in the second half and had eight points in the fourth quarter. His 17-foot shot tied the game at 83 with 4:30 left.

Payton’s basket put Seattle ahead 85-83, and Payton and Baker then double-teamed Kemp. His errant pass was stolen by Ellis, who scored on a driving layup for an 87-83 advantage with 3:43 left.

Derek Anderson dunked to close it to 87-85, but the Sonics ran off seven straight points for a 92-85 lead.

The Cavs defense stymied the Sonics in the second half, holding them to 17 points in the first 15:30.

Kemp’s jumper tied the game at 74-74 with 8:16 left. After Kemp tied it again at 78, the Sonics moved ahead 82-78. Person’s 3-pointer made it 82-81.

Because of foul trouble, Kemp played only nine minutes in the first half and went 0-for-3 from the field with one free throw and three fouls.

Baker scored 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the first half.

The Sonics opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run capped by Hersey Hawkins’ three-point play for a 34-24 lead. Cleveland turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the second quarter.

After Henderson rallied the Cavs to 45-39, the Sonics reasserted control. Payton hit a 3-pointer, Baker dunked and was fouled and hit the free throw for 51-39 advantage. The Sonics led 57-43 at halftime.

Payton had a big first half with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. Ellis had 11 points off the bench, including three 3-pointers.

Notes

Forward Jerome Kersey was activated from the injured list. He missed 26 games because of a stress fracture in his left foot. To make room, Eric Snow was placed on the injured list with a right ankle injury . …Craig Ehlo, who played with both the Cavs and Sonics, watched pre-game warmups from behind the Cavs bench and exchanged a hug with Danny Ferry.

MEMO: Changed in the Spokane edition.

This sidebar appeared with the story: SuperSonics 99, Cavaliers 91 FG FT Reb CLEVELAND Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Henderson 45 10-15 3-5 2-5 2 5 23 Kemp 30 5-11 7-10 0-7 3 4 17 Ilgauskas 18 3-5 0-0 2-7 1 5 6 Knight 35 2-10 1-2 3-6 11 5 5 Person 39 6-11 2-2 1-5 2 3 16 Potapenko 27 5-8 0-0 2-2 1 1 10 Anderson 28 4-7 6-6 1-2 3 2 14 Dumas 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brooks 10 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 James 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ferry 5 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Totals 240 35-69 19-25 11-35 24 27 91 Percentages: FG .507, FT .760. 3-Point Goals: 2-7, .286 (Person 2-4, Anderson 0-1, Brooks 0-2). Team Rebounds: 12. Blocked shots: 7 (Ilgauskas 3, Kemp 2, Henderson, Person). Turnovers: 23 (Anderson 5, Kemp 4, Knight 4, Ilgauskas 2, Potapenko 2, Ferry 2, Henderson, Person, Team 2). Steals: 9 (Knight 3, Henderson 2, Kemp 2, Person, Anderson). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: 1. FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 38 8-13 5-8 5-6 2 6 21 Schrempf 41 5-15 6-6 4-11 2 2 16 McIlvaine 12 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 5 2 Hawkins 35 2-8 1-1 0-3 4 4 6 Payton 45 10-18 6-9 3-8 6 3 28 Perkins 24 3-7 0-0 1-1 1 1 7 Ellis 30 6-13 2-4 2-3 1 2 17 Kersey 10 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2 2 Anthony 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Wingate 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 36-81 20-28 16-33 18 26 99 Percentages: FG .444, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 7-21, .333 (Ellis 3-5, Payton 2-6, Hawkins 1-3, Perkins 1-5, Schrempf 0-1, Anthony 0-1). Team Rebounds: 13. Blocked shots: 4 (Baker 2, McIlvaine, Hawkins). Turnovers: 18 (Schrempf 3, Payton 3, Hawkins 2, Perkins 2, Kersey 2, Wingate 2, Baker, McIlvaine, Ellis, Team). Steals: 12 (Kersey 3, Payton 2, Perkins 2, Ellis 2, Baker, Schrempf, Hawkins). Technical fouls: None. Flagrant foul: Perkins, 9:41 fourth. Illegal defense: None. Cleveland 24 19 23 25 - 91 Seattle 22 35 15 27 - 99 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:14.