Sonics Stagger By Bulls -- Cartwright, Scheffler Injured In 85-81 Win

IOWA CITY, Iowa - After blitzing the Chicago Bulls the night before, the Seattle SuperSonics took the hard road to victory last night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Sonics won 85-81 after falling behind 20-4 and failing to make a field goal in the first 10 minutes, 50 seconds.

Seattle finally took the lead with 6:10 left in the game. The Sonics held Chicago to one point in the final 2 1/2 minutes, and iced their fifth exhibition win in as many tries on a Detlef Schrempf free throw with seven seconds left for the final four-point advantage.

The game was a bit of a coming-out party for Sonic Ervin Johnson, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes.

"This was the first game he really hasn't gotten in foul trouble," Seattle Coach George Karl said of the second-year center. "I thought he really played effectively. He gave us some defense for the first time."

Johnson played a little more than planned because starting center Bill Cartwright left the game after six minutes with a groin injury.

"It's nothing," Cartwright said.

What was something was an injury to reserve big man Steve Scheffler, who landed the wrong way on an ankle.

"He went to the hospital for X-rays," Karl said. "He had at least a severe sprain, and maybe a fracture."

Byron Houston sat out with tendinitis in his Achilles tendon, and Vincent Askew was withheld because of a flare-up of a sinus infection.

Kendall Gill didn't contribute much - he was ejected with his second technical foul with 3:22 left in the first half. Gill's first technical was for hanging on the rim. The second came for words exchanged with officials.

Schrempf had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Sonics. Sarunas Marciulionis had 13 points, and Gary Payton added 12. Shawn Kemp mustered just eight points in 22 minutes.

B.J. Armstrong, making a return to the University of Iowa, led the Bulls with 13 points before a doting crowd. Bull forward Scottie Pippen equaled Kemp's eight points.

Seattle shot a chilly 40.9 percent from the field, but Chicago was a frigid 34.2 percent on 24-for-70 misfiring.

"Playing back-to-back games against the same team is mentally difficult," Karl said. The Sonics drilled the Bulls 123-94 in Memphis on Friday night.