SEATTLE, May 4 -- Gary Payton scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter when the Seattle SuperSonics made 14-of-15 free throws and pulled away for a 106-92 win Monday night over the Los Angeles Lakers in the opener of their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. Hersey Hawkins added 20 points and eight rebounds and Detlef Schrempf had 19 points as Seattle has won three straight games since falling behind 2-1 in its best-of-five first-round series with Minnesota.
The SuperSonics have lost the last four playoff series against the Lakers, winning just three of the last 18 postseason matchups against them since 1980. Shaquille O'Neal collected 27 points and 11 rebounds while Rick Fox had 14 points and 10 assists for Los Angeles, which had been idle since Thursday, when they eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers four games. These teams both finished with 61-21 records, but Seattle received the second seed by virtue of winning three of four regular-season meetings. Game Two will be Wednesday in Seattle.
