Sonics Put More Hurt On Celtics Kemp, Payton Each Score 22 As Winning Streak Reaches 10
The Seattle SuperSonics have won 10 straight games but know they can play better. They didn’t have to Friday night against the injury-plagued Boston Celtics.
Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton scored 22 points each and the Sonics led by at least nine throughout the last 2-1/2 quarters as they matched the third-longest winning streak in club history with a 118-91 win.
“We’re not fine-tuned yet,” Seattle coach George Karl said. “We’re still a few weeks from playing our best basketball we can play.”
Boston, which had four substitutes in uniform and four players in street clothes on the bench, lost its fourth straight game.
The Celtics led 28-26 after one quarter before the Sonics took control. Seattle hit 15 shots in the second quarter, just 12 fewer than Boston sank for the game. The Sonics hit 52 percent of their shots while the Celtics made 32.5 percent.
“It was absolutely ridiculous that they got so many shots in the second quarter,” Celtics coach M.L. Carr said.
Boston fell to 2-8, with seven of the losses by at least 10 points.
Seattle (11-2) has dominated opponents and is 8-1 in games decided by more than 10 points, but only one of its victims during the current streak has a winning record.
The Celtics, who trailed 62-45 at halftime, pulled within 80-71 before the Sonics finished the third quarter with a 7-0 run to go ahead 87-71. Seattle led by at least 16 points the rest of the way.
Rick Fox scored 21 points and Todd Day had 17 for Boston, which has been routed in its last three games.
The Celtics were without four players who were projected as starters when the season began. Only one of their four available substitutes, Marty Conlon, played in the NBA before this season.
“That excuse isn’t going to float with anybody in this locker room,” Conlon said. “We should have been smart offensively, especially in the second quarter when we were taking shots with 18 seconds left on the 24-second clock.”
“This is the first game that we closed the door early in the second half like we are capable,” Karl said. “When we pass the ball like we did tonight, we are a pretty good team.”
xxxx SuperSonics 118, Celtics 91 FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 31 5-9 5-5 0-3 2 2 15 Kemp 32 10-18 2-4 4-13 0 2 22 McIlvaine 5 0-1 1-2 0-1 1 2 1 Payton 33 8-17 3-4 0-7 9 3 22 Hawkins 22 4-5 0-0 1-2 0 1 10 Perkins 22 3-6 3-4 0-2 3 1 10 Stewart 24 5-9 2-2 4-7 4 4 12 Ehlo 20 1-3 0-0 0-2 5 0 3 Snow 24 3-5 1-2 1-3 9 3 8 Wingate 9 2-2 1-1 0-1 0 0 5 Graham 11 2-7 0-0 1-1 0 0 5 Harvey 7 2-4 1-2 0-3 0 4 5 Totals 240 45-86 19-26 11-45 33 22 118 Percentages: FG .523, FT .731. 3-Point Goals: 9-18, .500 (Payton 3-6, Hawkins 2-2, Ehlo 1-1, Snow 1-1, Graham 1-2, Perkins 1-3, Stewart 0-1, Schrempf 0-2). Team Rebounds: 9. Blocked shots: 6 (McIlvaine 2, Kemp, Stewart, Harvey, Wingate). Turnovers: 13 (Kemp 2, Stewart 2, Ehlo 2, Snow 2, Hawkins 2, Schrempf, Payton, Perkins). Steals: 10 (Kemp 4, Payton 2, Perkins 2, Stewart, Snow). Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 10:45 second; illegal defense, 5:13 second; illegal defense, 3:32 second. Illegal defense: 1. FG FT Reb BOSTON Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Day 36 5-16 4-7 2-8 2 2 17 Williams 33 3-7 2-2 1-3 2 4 8 Brickowski 23 3-5 3-4 1-5 2 4 11 Barros 46 4-16 3-4 0-1 5 2 13 Fox 34 5-9 9-13 1-7 4 5 21 Conlon 18 1-7 2-2 2-5 3 0 4 Szabo 12 1-4 0-0 2-5 0 4 2 Walker 27 5-15 4-5 6-10 1 2 15 Driggers 11 0-4 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 Totals 240 27-83 27-37 17-46 19 23 91 Percentages: FG .325, FT .730. 3-Point Goals: 10-26, .385 (Day 3-7, Fox 2-2, Brickowski 2-4, Barros 2-7, Walker 1-3, Driggers 0-3). Team Rebounds: 14. Blocked shots: 4 (Barros, Conlon, Szabo, Walker). Turnovers: 20 (Walker 4, Day 4, Barros 3, Fox 3, Williams 2, Brickowski 2, Conlon 2). Steals: 6 (Barros 2, Day, Williams, Brickowski, Walker). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: None. Seattle 26 36 25 31 - 118 Boston 28 17 26 20 - 91 A-17,220. (18,624). T-2:02.