Sam Perkins took care of Hakeem Olajuwon, and his Seattle SuperSonics teammates did the rest.
Shawn Kemp had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and Perkins battled Olajuwon to a standoff as the Sonics held off the Houston Rockets for a 106-101 victory and 1-1 tie in their Western Conference semifinal series Wednesday night."We did more of everything tonight," Kemp said. "Whatever it took to win, we did it. Sam held his position. He used his arms against Hakeem and was active and didn't let Hakeem catch the ball where he wanted to."
Now the SuperSonics are going home for Game 3 on Friday night having accomplished their mission of getting at least one victory in The Summit.
"Going 0-2 would have made it tough to come back. We didn't want to be in that position," Kemp said.
Perkins, who started only four games at center during the regular season had 18 points, hit all four of his free throws and was 4-for-9 from 3-point range. Olajuwon, a perennial All-Star, finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
"We put pressure on them and tried to get good shots on every possession," Perkins said. "The game was decided by our aggressiveness on defense."
Seattle coach George Karl decided to give Perkins a rare start.
"Sam is just a guy that I believe in," Karl said. "He's been a big part of our success against Houston. He knows our half-court traps a little better and Hakeem doesn't like to chase him around the perimeter."
Hersey Hawkins had 21 points for the SuperSonics, 17 in the first half when Seattle built a 65-47 lead with a 31-8 charge in the final 9:25.
The Rockets made it interesting in the second half. They scored nine straight points to cut Seattle's lead to 90-88 with 4:04 left. The spurt featured a three-point play by Olajuwon, a 3-pointer by Clyde Drexler, a tip by Olajuwon and a free throw by Mario Elie.
But Perkins, who started only four games in the regular season, then hit a 3-pointer to put the Sonics up 93-88, and they held on behind the scoring of Kemp and Detlef Schrempf. Kemp scored seven points and Schrempf made four free throws down the stretch for Seattle, which was 31-of-33 from the line.
"We used the double-team a lot and we got aggressive," Karl said. "This series is just beginning. Hopefully we can hold the serve this weekend. Mentally, I didn't think we were ready to play the first game. In the second quarter tonight, we started playing basketball and in the second half, it became a men's game."
Olajuwon said the game wasn't decided by his matchup with Perkins.
"We play against Seattle, we don't play against one person," Olajuwon said. "They just played much harder and tougher than we expected. They wanted it more than us."
Clyde Drexler led the Rockets with 25 points and eight assists. Charles Barkley finished with 21 points, including a pair of banked 3-pointers in the final minute.
"I think their backs were against the wall," Drexler said. "They had to go for broke. I think our defense was better and we executed our offense better in the second half. I was disappointed a little with our intensity level. I'd like to see us get back to the intensity we had in Game 1."
The Rockets opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run, but never got closer than 10 points in the period, which ended with Seattle leading 82-70.