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Perkins Boosts Sonics Veteran’s Last-Second Heroics Help Seattle Topple Orlando

Associated Press

Strangely enough, the Seattle SuperSonics were shocked to get a home victory Wednesday night.

Seattle scored the last seven points of the game and overcame a six-point deficit in the last minute to defeat Orlando 100-99. They did it without Gary Payton, who was ejected with 8:46 left in the game for head-butting Joe Wolf. Seattle improved to 27-3 at home.

“You just don’t know what’s going to happen,” Sam Perkins said. “It didn’t look good.”

Shaquille O’Neal’s putback gave the Magic a 99-93 lead with 49.4 seconds left. Perkins drilled a 3-pointer, then stole the ball from Dennis Scott and fed Hersey Hawkins for a layup to cut the deficit to 99-98.

“I was supposed to double-team the time before. This time I did and Scott threw the ball into my arms,” Perkins said. As he caught the ball, Perkins flipped it toward his basket and Hawkins caught it and went for a layup.

“Coaches always say throw the ball toward your basket. I never saw Hersey until he scored.”

Dennis Scott missed a running shot from the lane and Eric Snow fed Detlef Schrempf for a 17-footer with 14.7 seconds left.

The Magic worked for the final shot and Scott drove the lane as the clock ticked down. The ball was stripped away with 0.5 seconds left, and the ball was then inbounded to Anderson, who missed a desperation attempt.

Payton led the Sonics with 23 points. Frank Brickowski came off the bench and scored 11 points, eight in the fourth quarter. He said Payton’s ejection sparked the Sonics.

“We need Gary (Payton) more than anything,” Brickowski said. “His ejection motivated us in a strange way.”

Brickowski was 3 of 4 from long range. “I enjoy playing against Shaquille because he’s afraid to come out on me,” he said.

Silence reigned in the Magic lockerroom after their second straight loss.

“We played well but we just made some mistakes at the end,” said O’Neal said, who had 20 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.

Anfernee Hardaway topped the Magic with 22 points.

With the victory, Seattle became the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot.

Orlando lost for the second straight night on its four-game Western road trip.

Shawn Kemp had 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Sonics.

Notes

Orlando was without power forward Horace Grant, who sprained his right wrist Tuesday in Denver against the Nuggets… . Orlando is 4-12 vs. Seattle, including 1-7 in Seattle… . Dennis Scott has made a 3-point basket in a franchiserecord 68 straight games… . Payton was ejected after a confrontation with Wolf. He was fouled while driving the lane, and he and Wolf went nose-to-nose in the lane and Payton head-butted him in the chin. … Hardaway had a season-high five steals.

For the first time in two weeks, Kemp was able to play in manageable pain. Since he sprained his left foot March 1, Kemp has been in and out of the lineup. Icing, ultrasound and time in a hyperbaric chamber have boosted his range of motion and reduced his pain.

“It shouldn’t be long until it’s back to normal,” Kemp said. “It’s pretty close. It has made some progress the last couple days. It’s going to hurt, you just have to find a way to play with it.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SuperSonics 100, Magic 99 FG FT Reb ORLANDO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Koncak 24 1-3 1-2 2-7 2 6 3 Scott 40 4-14 3-3 2-8 5 4 14 O’Neal 44 9-20 2-6 9-11 1 4 20 Anderson 40 8-18 1-2 1-5 6 0 19 Hardaway 41 7-15 8-8 2-8 4 2 22 Wolf 18 3-4 0-0 1-3 1 4 6 Bowie 11 1-5 0-0 1-5 0 1 2 Royal 15 5-7 0-0 0-1 4 2 10 Thompson 7 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 2 3 Totals 240 39-89 15-21 18-49 23 25 99 Percentages: FG .438, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 6-23, .261 (Scott 3-9, Anderson 2-8, Thompson 1-3, Hardaway 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 2 (O’Neal, Royal). Turnovers: 16 (Anderson 4, Scott 3, O’Neal 2, Bowie 2, Thompson 2, Wolf, Hardaway, team). Steals: 15 (Hardaway 5, O’Neal 3, Royal 2, Anderson 2, Koncak, Scott, Wolf). Technical fouls: Anderson, 7:32 third; Wolf, 8:46 fourth; Illegal defense, 11:06 third. Illegal defense: 1. FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 33 5-10 6-6 3-12 8 3 16 Schrempf 39 7-13 5-12 1-5 5 2 20 Johnson 16 2-5 0-0 1-3 1 2 4 Hawkins 37 2-9 2-4 0-4 3 2 6 Payton 33 9-15 1-1 1-3 5 1 23 Askew 28 4-7 0-0 0-2 1 2 10 Perkins 28 2-7 2-2 1-6 3 2 7 Brickowski 19 4-7 0-0 0-1 0 3 11 Wingate 6 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 Snow 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 36-74 16-25 7-36 26 17 100 Percentages: FG .486, FT .640. 3-Point Goals: 12-20, .600 (Payton 4-6, Brickowski 3-4, Askew 2-2, Wingate 1-1, Schrempf 1-2, Perkins 1-3, Hawkins 0-2). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked shots: 6 (Johnson 2, Perkins 2, Kemp, Askew). Turnovers: 20 (Kemp 6, Hawkins 4, Payton 3, Johnson 2, Perkins 2, Brickowski 2, Schrempf). Steals: 8 (Payton 3, Hawkins 2, Perkins, Brickowski, Wingate). Technical fouls: Payton, 8:46 fourth; Illegal defense, 5:35 fourth. Ejection: Payton, 8:46 fourth. Illegal defense: 1. Orlando 25 31 27 16 - 99 Seattle 27 26 24 23 - 100 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:17. Officials-Hugh Evans, Bernie Fryar, Mike Smith.

This sidebar appeared with the story: SuperSonics 100, Magic 99 FG FT Reb ORLANDO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Koncak 24 1-3 1-2 2-7 2 6 3 Scott 40 4-14 3-3 2-8 5 4 14 O’Neal 44 9-20 2-6 9-11 1 4 20 Anderson 40 8-18 1-2 1-5 6 0 19 Hardaway 41 7-15 8-8 2-8 4 2 22 Wolf 18 3-4 0-0 1-3 1 4 6 Bowie 11 1-5 0-0 1-5 0 1 2 Royal 15 5-7 0-0 0-1 4 2 10 Thompson 7 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 2 3 Totals 240 39-89 15-21 18-49 23 25 99 Percentages: FG .438, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 6-23, .261 (Scott 3-9, Anderson 2-8, Thompson 1-3, Hardaway 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 2 (O’Neal, Royal). Turnovers: 16 (Anderson 4, Scott 3, O’Neal 2, Bowie 2, Thompson 2, Wolf, Hardaway, team). Steals: 15 (Hardaway 5, O’Neal 3, Royal 2, Anderson 2, Koncak, Scott, Wolf). Technical fouls: Anderson, 7:32 third; Wolf, 8:46 fourth; Illegal defense, 11:06 third. Illegal defense: 1. FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 33 5-10 6-6 3-12 8 3 16 Schrempf 39 7-13 5-12 1-5 5 2 20 Johnson 16 2-5 0-0 1-3 1 2 4 Hawkins 37 2-9 2-4 0-4 3 2 6 Payton 33 9-15 1-1 1-3 5 1 23 Askew 28 4-7 0-0 0-2 1 2 10 Perkins 28 2-7 2-2 1-6 3 2 7 Brickowski 19 4-7 0-0 0-1 0 3 11 Wingate 6 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 Snow 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 36-74 16-25 7-36 26 17 100 Percentages: FG .486, FT .640. 3-Point Goals: 12-20, .600 (Payton 4-6, Brickowski 3-4, Askew 2-2, Wingate 1-1, Schrempf 1-2, Perkins 1-3, Hawkins 0-2). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked shots: 6 (Johnson 2, Perkins 2, Kemp, Askew). Turnovers: 20 (Kemp 6, Hawkins 4, Payton 3, Johnson 2, Perkins 2, Brickowski 2, Schrempf). Steals: 8 (Payton 3, Hawkins 2, Perkins, Brickowski, Wingate). Technical fouls: Payton, 8:46 fourth; Illegal defense, 5:35 fourth. Ejection: Payton, 8:46 fourth. Illegal defense: 1. Orlando 25 31 27 16 - 99 Seattle 27 26 24 23 - 100 A-17,072 (17,072). T-2:17. Officials-Hugh Evans, Bernie Fryar, Mike Smith.