Utah Lets Victory Slip Away Against Seattle

SEATTLE —  Shawn Kemp went into the fourth quarter Monday night with five fouls, Gary Payton with a sore leg, their SuperSonics with an eight-point deficit. What, them worry?

Of course, that was OK to say after the coast was clear and Seattle had emerged with a 91-87 victory over the Utah Jazz at KeyArena and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals, a win that should remove whatever doubt remained that destiny had finally arrived. Not just that it happened, but how it happened.

With Kemp lasting the final 10:44 and then, after getting double-teamed on the post most of the night, suddenly finding single coverage from Karl Malone in the final minutes and turning that into consecutive baskets for the lead and the victory.

With John Stockton--John Stockton!--throwing a bad pass in a critical situation with about 30 seconds remaining and his Jazz down by two, one of his seven turnovers that tied a team playoff record.

With Utah’s Jeff Hornacek deciding against letting a missed Sonic shot drop out of bounds, a move that would have allowed the Jazz to run a final play from halfcourt with 2.4 seconds left, and instead knocking the ball out himself, sealing the outcome.

“It’s a classy job to overcome some of the problems we had to overcome tonight,” SuperSonic Coach George Karl said.

Foremost down the stretch was the foul trouble that limited Kemp to 16 minutes and four shots the first three quarters, including only 27 seconds in the third while Malone ran wild.

With 10:44 to play in the fourth, Karl sent him in.

Eventually, there was Kemp getting position against Malone, then the ball. His four-footer with 1:11 left gave the SuperSonics an 87-85 lead.

Then, after Antoine Carr’s layin earned Utah another tie, Kemp got the ball again on the low post. And again, no other defender came to help. So Kemp, not stronger than Malone but more athletic, turned into the lane for a running five-footer with 39 seconds to play.

When that dropped through, Seattle had gone ahead for good, 89-87. Who could have imagined Utah, supposedly the team in this series that had composure, would then waste away?

And to have Stockton do the most damage. From a good beginning--four of four from the field--to throwing the cross-court floater intended for David Benoit that Kemp easily intercepted, giving him as many turnovers as assists.

Down by two points, the Jazz decided not to foul, instead gambling that Seattle would miss, or commit a turnover, with enough time to get a good look at the other end. Karl yelled at Detlef Schrempf to let the 24-second clock run all the way down before shooting.

Schrempf did just that, launching from the left baseline with a second left on the shot clock and about three seconds left in the game. It barely hit the rim and went straight down. Nate McMillan tried for the offensive rebound, but seemed to knock the ball out of bounds. Until Hornacek reached out at the last instant.

He was the last player to touch the ball. Seattle retained possession, called a timeout with 2.4 showing, then got the ball in to Schrempf, who was immediately fouled. His two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining provided the four-point margin.