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Tuesday, Dec. 14 10:00pm ET
Sonics improve to 9-2 at home this year | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
SEATTLE (AP) -- Gary Payton will do everything in his power to bring the fans back to the Key Arena. Except stand in front of the Seattle SuperSonics' home holding up a placard. "I don't know why the fans don't come," the star guard said Tuesday night after scoring 25 points to lead the Sonics to a 109-84 victory over Denver before a season-low crowd of 11,879. "I won't go around with a sign and say, 'Hey, all right, why you all not coming to our games?' What do you want me to do, go on TV and say, 'Please come to the game?' " he added. Payton's performance came in three quarters of work. When he left the game, the Sonics led 85-59 and Nuggets forward Antonio McDyess was in the locker room because of back spasms. Payton shot 10-for-16, had four steals and contributed seven assists in his 36 minutes to help the Sonics beat Denver for the 13th consecutive time in Seattle. At 31, Payton is one of the NBA's best players, but Seattle fans aren't convinced yet about the caliber of the team after the Sonics missed the playoffs last season. Although the Sonics are off to a 16-6 start, they've lost to the Los Angeles Lakers by 24 and Charlotte by 22 at home and by 18 to Utah on the road. The Sonics are averaging 14,814 in 11 home games this season. Until this season, they had sellouts of 17,072 in every home game since 1996. Sagging attendance has been a league-wide problem this season. "If the fans want to come, they come," Payton said. "If we go out there with just 10 people, I'm not going to stop playing." The Sonics should have a sellout in their next game. They're matched here Thursday night against Portland, the team with the $73.9 million payroll that has a 17-5 record. It will be the first Seattle-Trail Blazers game of the season. "It won't be as easy as tonight," Payton said. In Tuesday night's game, McDyess played only the first four minutes of the second half before being taken out for good after twisting his back late in the first half. He finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Coach Dan Issel said he expected McDyess to be able to play Thursday night against Sacramento. "I really twisted it. It felt like it got me right in the muscle. It doesn't feel like it's something torn, but it did hurt," McDyess said. Payton overwhelmed Nick Van Exel, Denver's starting point guard who used to give Payton fits when Van Exel played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Van Exel, obviously tired from the Nuggets' six games-in-10-days road trip, had four points on 2-for-10 shooting. The game was more or less over in the first 2:56 of the second half when the Sonics came out and scored 14 unanswered points. Denver, which arrived in Seattle as a .500 team, was led by Raef LaFrentz's 15 points and 10 rebounds. Keon Clark had 14 points off the bench. Seattle got 16 points from Ruben Patterson, who is off to a sensational start as Detlef Schrempf's replacement as the team's starting small forward. Patterson had a pair of fastbreak dunks, a fastbreak layup and another layup in Seattle's 14-0 start to the second half as the Sonics went ahead 64-40. The Sonics led 85-56 after Greg Foster's 16-footer with 58 seconds left in the third quarter. "I'm a hustle guy," said Patterson, who averaged 5+ points in his previous four games because he had the flu. "That's how I get most of my points." The Sonics were in front 50-40 at halftime after taking a 42-30 lead with 4:06 left on an 11-0 run that was capped by a three-point play by Vin Baker, who ended up with 13 points and nine rebounds. Rashard Lewis made two long jumpers for the Sonics at the end of the opening period to tie the score at 22 after the Nuggets opened up a 16-6 lead in the first 5:48 of the game. Game notesHorace Grant started at center and played 28 minutes for the Sonics after missing three of the previous four games with a sprained left knee. He tried to play against Utah last Saturday night, but came out after 12 minutes. "It's good to be back," Grant said. "My knee felt great. It wasn't sore at all." ... The last time the Nuggets won in Seattle was Feb. 9, 1993. ... Seattle is 28-2 against Denver at home since the 1985-86 season. ... The Sonics are 9-2 at home this season. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Denver Clubhouse Seattle Clubhouse   | |||||