Sonics Back Atop The Pack In Nba West Seattle Gets Boost As Hawkins Shakes Slump; Payton Once Again Leads The Way With 24 Points

Hersey Hawkins regained his confidence, and the Seattle SuperSonics regained the top spot in the race for best record in the Western Conference.

Hawkins broke a two-game scoreless drought and scored 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting as the Sonics ended a two-game losing streak with a 109-83 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.

How serious was Hawkins’ slump?

Bad enough that he asked to be taken out of Seattle’s 109-102 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.

“That’s the first time that’s happened at any level,” Hawkins said.

“I just lost my confidence.”

Hawkins missed his first two shots Monday before Detlef Schrempf hit him cutting to the basket for a layup. He then scored again on a drive to the basket.

“When you’re struggling, it’s nice to get a couple of easy buckets to get untracked,” Hawkins said.

The 10-year veteran said he got plenty of suggestions after going 0 for 13 in losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Suns.

“When your shots aren’t falling,” Hawkins said, “everybody in the gym is a shooting coach.”

Hawkins also was 3 of 6 from 3-point range. The Sonics were 9 for 18 from beyond the arc and shot 52 percent (44 of 84) overall against the Kings.

The Kings played without Mitch Richmond, their leading scorer, who is sidelined with a sore right knee. Sacramento lost its eighth straight and 15th in 17 outings.

Gary Payton led the Sonics with 24 points on 10-for-18 shooting. He also handed out eight assists. The Sonics (51-17) lead the Utah Jazz in the race for best record in the West. The Jazz (50-17) were idle. Both teams trail the Chicago Bulls (52-17), who beat the Boston Celtics 111-88, for the best record in the NBA.

Sonics coach George Karl said Hawkins’ value is difficult to measure. “His character is invaluable to this team. Everybody … thinks it’s going in when he shoots.”

Vin Baker added 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Tariq Abdul-Wahad led the Kings with 18 points.

Seattle, which never trailed, won the season series 3-1.

One night after battling the Lakers in a 96-93 loss, the Kings were no match for the division-leading Sonics.

“The last 3 minutes of the first half were the turning points,” Kings coach Eddie Jordan said. “We were down seven and then we’re down 18 and we couldn’t recover.”

Though the game was already decided, Karl kept Hawkins in most of the fourth quarter as his shooting guard tried to regain his touch. Hawkins played 33 minutes.

Hawkins, averaging a career-low 10.3 points per game, had missed 15 straight shots before scoring. He led the nation in scoring as a collegian at Bradley in 1988, averaging 36.3 points per game.

Seattle led 86-52 after three periods.

The Sonics, with Payton leading the way, opened a 43-25 lead early in the second quarter.

After Sacramento closed to 47-40, the Sonics scored the last 11 points of the first half.

Payton got the Sonics off to a great start. He scored 13 of his points in the first period.

The Sonics outrebounded the Kings 45-41. They are 20-1 when they outrebound their opponent.

SuperSonics 109, Kings 83

FG FT Reb SACRAMENTO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Owens 22 2-5 0-0 1-4 3 2 4 Williamson 19 1-4 0-0 1-1 0 1 2 Thorpe 17 4-10 1-5 1-6 1 1 9 Abdul-Wahad 35 8-12 2-3 1-3 1 1 18 Johnson 36 5-12 2-2 0-1 4 1 13 Funderburke 26 3-7 5-6 0-3 4 1 11 Polynice 21 4-7 0-2 2-7 4 3 8 Dehere 25 7-11 0-0 0-0 0 3 14 Hendrickson 29 0-2 2-2 0-5 2 4 2 Stewart 10 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 2 Totals 240 35-71 12-20 6-32 19 18 83 Percentages: FG .493, FT .600.

3-Point Goals: 1-6, .167 (Johnson 1-4, Owens 0-1, Dehere 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 9.

Blocked shots: 4 (Abdul-Wahad, Funderburke, Polynice, Stewart).

Turnovers: 17 (Abdul-Wahad 4, Johnson 4, Thorpe 2, Funderburke 2, Owens, Polynice, Dehere, Hendrickson, Stewart).

Steals: 8 (Johnson 2, Polynice 2, Owens, Thorpe, AbdulWahad, Hendrickson).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 31 9-14 2-3 3-9 5 1 20 Schrempf 33 7-11 2-2 2-10 6 2 16 McIlvaine 19 2-3 0-0 2-5 1 2 4 Hawkins 33 6-11 1-2 1-4 3 2 16 Payton 31 10-18 0-0 0-4 8 0 24 Ellis 15 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 1 2 Perkins 12 2-2 2-2 2-5 2 0 7 Kersey 23 1-3 0-0 2-4 0 3 2 Williams 20 3-6 3-3 0-0 1 2 9 Anthony 17 2-6 0-0 0-1 1 3 5 Zidek 6 1-5 2-2 0-0 0 0 4 Totals 240 44-84 12-14 12-42 29 16 109 Percentages: FG .524, FT .857.

3-Point Goals: 9-17, .529 (Payton 4-5, Hawkins 3-6, Perkins 1-1, Anthony 1-3, Ellis 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 3.

Blocked shots: 4 (McIlvaine 3, Baker).

Turnovers: 12 (Schrempf 4, Anthony 4, Baker, Hawkins, Payton, Williams).

Steals: 14 (Hawkins 3, Anthony 3, Schrempf 2, Kersey 2, Baker, McIlvaine, Payton, Ellis).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

Sacramento 22 18 14 29 - 83

Seattle 31 27 28 23 - 109

A-17,072 (17,072). T-1:54.