Alley-Oops! Err Ball Lands Duo On Bench -- Sonics Win, But Karl Upset At Payton-To-Kemp Misfire

On a night when the Seattle SuperSonics announced their new ticket prices, raising the top seat from $42 to $45 a game, Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton - self-proclaimed '90s kind of guys - tried to give fans a sample of what coming seasons hold.

George Karl, an otherwise modern fellow, threw a fit.

Borrowing a move from Ward Cleaver, the Sonic coach effectively sent his precocious starters to their rooms for a too-fancy, alley-oop play just before halftime of a 131-111 victory against Sacramento last night at the Coliseum.

Karl benched Kemp and Payton to start the third quarter, about the only interesting development in this ugly, dispassionate blowout of the NBA's fourth-worst team.

"We've got to get more into fundamentals, the simple habits, rather than trying to make it onto NBA Tonight or Showtime or Entertainment Tonight," Karl said. "I've always felt that way."

The benching sent a get-serious message as the Sonics (44-20) head into a tough stretch of the schedule that begins tonight at Utah, then moves Sunday to Houston and back to the Kingdome on Tuesday for a game against Portland. Payton and Kemp say they will try not to do it again.

But Payton and Kemp also defended their highlight-film attempt. On the play, Payton, in the middle of a congested fast break, flipped the ball off the glass to a trailing Kemp, who grabbed the ball with his right hand and tried to power it down through the rim in the same motion.

He missed, but Vincent Askew put the ball back in on the offensive rebound.

"This is the 1990s," Payton said. "When (Charlotte's) Larry Johnson comes down swearing and hollering, that's funny. But when we put a little style in our game, what's that?

"I don't call it showboating. I call it making the pass."

Said Kemp, only marginally more repentant: "I've been dunking that way since junior high. You're going to make some; you're going to miss some."

The Sonics were ahead by a wide margin at the time, 64-53, in a game in which the Kings (20-43) fell behind early and never challenged. But the alley-oops! represented to Karl a potential problem as the team makes its stretch run into the playoffs - that some players may not use each game, even those against lifeless opponents, to shore up team weaknesses.

Though Kemp led all players with 27 points and 17 rebounds in just 32 minutes, Karl referred to the performance as simply a "great night for him statistically."

Veteran Eddie Johnson backed his coach on the issue. "We have to be professional," he said. "I've been to the Western Conference finals and I know that (attitude) has to start now. That's what our guys have to realize."

The Kings, playing without injured guard Mitch Richmond, did their best to underwhelm the Sonics and their smallest home crowd (10,977) in three months.

Ex-Sonic forward Marty Conlon played 22 minutes off the bench, leading all Kings with eight rebounds, and fellow big man Pete Chilcutt tied his career high with 19 points in 31 minutes.

Too slow to cover the Sonics' quicker players, the Kings allowed Seattle to shoot 58 percent from the field and get every player in the game except forward Derrick McKey, who did not suit up because of a right thigh bruise. Johnson especially benefited, finding enough open space to score 23 points on 11-for-17 shooting.

Sacramento will seem like an appetizer to the heavy meal awaiting the Sonics. In the Jazz, Rockets and Trail Blazers, Seattle gets a taste of three probable playoff teams - one of which they are almost certain to meet in the first round.

"Do we have to win these? I don't know," Karl said. "But we've got to play well. We can't give away a chip that can be used against us in the future."

Payton and Kemp both will play significant roles against the Jazz, in trying to deny the feed to Karl Malone from point guard John Stockton.

Though promising to throw the alley-oops! "out of the playbook for now," Payton joked with Kemp after the game about the next time the chance to get creative arises.

"Next time," Kemp said, "throw it off the floor, then onto the glass."

--------------------------------------------- SONIC PEVIEW

NOTES

The Sonics announced they will increase prices in three of seven ticket categories next season.

The most expensive ticket for games in the Coliseum will go from $42 to $45. The $10 ticket will be increased to $12. Tickets in the $15 and $18 sections will be combined into one $18 section. Tickets in the $30, $22 and $7 sections will remain the same.

The Sonics also will introduce six-game packages, giving fans an opportunity to buy up to four "six-packs" and watch as many as 24 games.

-- By the end of this month, the Sonics will surpass their single-season record of 21 sellouts, set in the 1975-76 season. The Sonics have sold out 20 games. Two March games are also sold out.

NEXT: UTAH JAZZ

-- WHO: Seattle SuperSonics (44-20) at Utah Jazz (37-26).

-- WHEN, WHERE: Tonight, 6, Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

-- BROADCASTS: Prime Sports Northwest cable TV, KJR radio (950 AM).

-- SEASON SERIES: Jazz leads 2-1. Sonics lost 96-89 in Utah on Jan. 14 and won 106-96 in Seattle four days later. Jazz won 101-96 on Feb. 11 in Seattle.

-- INJURY REPORT: Seattle C Rich King (right foot) is on the injured list. Seattle F Derrick McKey (right thigh bruise) is probable.

-- SONIC TRENDS: McKey missed his second straight start last night, but will make the trip to Salt Lake City and could play tonight or against Houston Sunday. . . . If the season ended today, the Sonics would play the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs.

-- JAZZ TRENDS: Utah is 3-1 since making a change in its starting lineup, replacing Jay Humphries with Jeff Malone at off guard and going from Tyrone Corbin to David Benoit at small forward. . . . At 20-10 in Salt Lake City, the Jazz has been surprisingly vulnerable at home.

-- KEYS: As always, the Sonics must keep Utah point guard John Stockton from getting the ball to forward Karl Malone, the league's third-leading scorer at 27.6 points a game. . . . The Sonics are 6-13 when they score fewer than 100 points. They have scored fewer than 100 in two of three games against Utah.