RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Without P.J. Brown or Baron Davis to
contend with, the Seattle SuperSonics managed to get their first
road victory of the season.
|  | | Gary Payton, front, reacts as he is grabbed by Charlotte's Hersey Hawkins Thursday night. |
Vin Baker scored 22 points and Rashard Lewis added 19 to lead
the SuperSonics to a 102-94 win over the Charlotte Hornets on
Thursday night.
The Hornets, already without Brown, lost Davis midway through
the game.
"They are a good team with Baron and P.J., but we had all
cylinders going," Baker said. "All I know is we were effective in
all the things we wanted to do. If you want to call it manhandling
them, that's fine."
The Sonics, which had been averaging 21.4 turnovers a game, had
only 10 against the Hornets. They had 20 second-chance points and
limited Charlotte's chances by grabbing 24 defensive rebounds.
"This was a taste of how I think we can play," Seattle coach
Paul Westphal said. "We finally took care of the ball, which is
key. That's been a major problem for us. We came up with a lot of
energy."
Charlotte coach Paul Silas said Seattle's second-chance points
cost the Hornets the game.
"That was the game in a nutshell," Silas said. "We held our
own in every other area, but the second-chance points cost us the
game. That's entirely too many."
Seattle, which opened the season 0-3 on the road, nearly
squandered a 14-point fourth-quarter lead.
The Sonics, who had led since midway through the second quarter,
stretched their lead to 85-71 on Baker's jump shot with 10:21 left.
But the Hornets, who started the game with forward Brown in
street clothes because of a strained left Achilles' tendon and lost
Davis with a strained hamstring, pulled back in it.
Derrick Coleman, back after missing over a month because of an
irregular heartbeat, scored seven points in a 10-0 run that made it
85-81 with 7:24 to go.
Showing little fatigue from his lack of conditioning, Coleman
hit two free throws to start the run, drilled a 3-pointer and later
hit a soft jumper to get Charlotte within striking distance.
"I was just trying to get into a rhythm more than anything,"
Coleman said. "I felt a little winded, but I was getting the looks
and able to hang in there."
Lewis answered for the Sonics with his third 3-pointer of the
night, and after a Charlotte miss, Jelani McCoy had a dunk that put
Seattle back up 90-81.
Charlotte cut it to five twice, both on jumpers by Hersey
Hawkins, but could get no closer.
Gary Payton finished with 17 points and Patrick Ewing had 13 for
Seattle.
Jamal Mashburn led Charlotte with 25. Coleman had 18 points and
11 rebounds in 35 minutes.
Davis, who strained his left hamstring late in the first
quarter, returned briefly in the second but left for the rest of
the half with 5:46 to play and the Hornets trailing 38-37.
Seattle immediately exploited his absence.
Without Davis' speed on the floor, the Sonics had more open
looks at the basket -- especially from long range. Payton hit a pair
of 3s and Lewis also had one in a 14-5 run that gave Seattle a
52-42 lead.
Davis tried to come back one last time, with 9:09 to play in the
third, but was extremely ineffective. His bad pass with 5:11 to go
in the period was stolen by Ruben Patterson, who drove the length
of the floor and dunked to give Seattle its largest lead of the
night, 72-57.
"They gave a little toughness away when (Davis) went out,"
Payton said. "They lost something on defense and we were able to
exploit that."
Game
notes
Brown missed only the 19th game of his seven-year career.
He is day-to-day. ... Ewing is averaging only 10.4 points a game.
... As part of Charlotte's Salute to Veterans Night, the Hornets
invited the family of 19-year-old sailor Lakeina Francis to the
game. Francis was killed in last month's terrorist attack on the
USS Cole.
|
|
NBA Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Charlotte Clubhouse
RECAPS
Seattle 102
Charlotte 94
Detroit 108
New Jersey 94
Philadelphia 84
Minnesota 82
Chicago 95
Orlando 90
Houston 85
Vancouver 78
Phoenix 88
Atlanta 79
Portland 107
Denver 91
|
