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Monday, Nov. 15 7:30pm ET
Payton becomes Sonics' career assists leader | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- After getting about 30 tickets for family and friends from Connecticut, Vin Baker was feeling a little pressure to produce after a so-so first half. He didn't disappoint. Baker and Vernon Maxwell scored 21 points apiece and each hit big fourth-quarter baskets to short-circuit a New Jersey rally as the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Nets 100-92 Monday night.
Baker hit three straight jumpers in the final period after New Jersey wiped out all but four points of a 22-point lead. "I didn't have a good first half and when I came back in the second I was really focused on playing well," said Baker, who had 16 points in the final 24 minutes. "I didn't want to be the guy blamed for messing this up." Gary Payton added 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists as the Sonics handed the Nets their sixth loss in seven games, their worst start since opening the 1991-92 season with a 1-7 record. Payton became the Sonics' career assists leader with 4,896, passing assistant coach Nate McMillan (4,893). Stephon Marbury led the Nets with 24 points and Kendall Gill added 15, including the 10,000th point of his 10-year career. "There really weren't any positives that we can take from this," Gill said. "We had the opportunity to pull one out and we didn't, so there's absolutely no positive in that." The Sonics seemed to be cruising to their sixth win in eight games when they opened a 79-57 lead with 3:51 to play in the third quarter on a three-point play by Brent Barry. However, Seattle went cold after that and the Nets responded with a 22-4 spurt to get within 83-79 with 8:41 left on the last of three straight baskets by Marbury. Baker then took over, hitting three medium-range jumpers that put Seattle ahead 90-81 with just under five minutes to play. "I got shots and was focusing on knocking them down," said Baker, who was 9-of-14 from the field. New Jersey got within 94-90 on a putback by Keith Van Horn with 2:38 remaining, but Maxwell then hit two free throws and a floater in the lane to put the game away. "It's nice to close out a road trip with a win," Sonics coach Paul Westphal said. "It's aggravating because we didn't take care of the basketball and let them back in the game when we should have put them away. We have to get better at putting teams away." Seattle took command by opening the second quarter with a 19-3 run that featured five points apiece by Greg Foster and Payton and four by Maxwell, who had 17 in the first half. The Sonics outscored New Jersey 31-8 in fast-break points. "The first half our defense was good; we got a lot of baskets off the defense," Westphal said. Game notesSeattle shot 48.6 percent from the field, hitting 35 of 72. ... The Sonics finished a five-game road trip with a 3-2 record, a streak that included four games in six nights. ... Ruben Patterson and Barry each scored 13 points for the Sonics, while Horace Grant had 10 points and 10 rebounds. ... Patterson had a career-high 11 rebounds. ... Van Horn continued to struggle, scoring 15 points on 6-of-21 shooting before fouling out late. ... Jamie Feick had 10 points and 12 rebounds for New Jersey. ... The Sonics committed 22 turnovers, 12 more than the Nets. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Seattle Clubhouse New Jersey Clubhouse RECAPS Seattle 100 New Jersey 92
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