RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Seattle SuperSonics played like their
new coach used to -- with everything they had.
|  | | Steve Smith, left, and the Blazers discovered Seattle had some new-found enthusiasm on defense. |
Gary Payton scored 24 points and 10 assists, and the Seattle SuperSonics showed new energy under interim coach Nate McMillan in Tuesday night's 105-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
"I thought it was a fantastic effort from the entire team,"
said McMillan, who was hired Monday to replace the fired Paul
Westphal. "This is the effort that we want from these guys. If
they give this effort, we have an opportunity to win each night."
Payton, a teammate of McMillan's for eight seasons, said the
team's effort made it feel like old times, when the Sonics were
among the best teams in the Western Conference.
"We just got back to playing defense and playing the basketball we played when he was here," Payton said in his first public comments since Westphal was fired. "Nate was always a defensive guy, and he told us from day one, 'I'm going to play defense, and
if you don't play defense, you're not going to play.' And that's what we need."
McMillan, who played 12 seasons in Seattle and was known as
"Mr. Sonic" for his determination, wasted no time in challenging
his team after its mediocre 6-9 start. McMillan benched forwards Vin Baker and Ruben Patterson, and gave Jelani McCoy and Emanual Davis their first starts of the season.
McCoy and Davis weren't great, but the rest of the team got the
message. Patrick Ewing had 10 rebounds, Patterson added 15 points and Rashard Lewis, who missed two games with a bruised left shin,
had 18 points.
"They all came out and responded, and this is a building block for us," McMillan said. "Of course, it makes it even sweeter that we beat a top team like Portland."
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Patterson reportedly unhappy
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According to a report Wednesday in the Tacoma News Tribune, Ruben Patterson wants to be traded soon so that he can enhance his value as a free agent this coming offseason.
Patterson is in the final year of a two-year, $2.2 million contract, and sources told the newspaper that Patterson wants to be traded somewhere he can be in the starting lineup so as to pad his statistics.
Patterson started 74 games last season before being unseated by Rashard Lewis. Patterson has been in and out of the starting lineup this season. Against the Blazers on Wednesday he was out, scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 21 minutes.
Sonics GM Wally Walker told the News Tribune the Sonics "have had no substantive talks" with other teams about trading Patterson and want to keep him. |
Damon Stoudamire had 20 points and Rasheed Wallace 18 and 10
rebounds to lead the Blazers, who had won four straight and nine of
11 after a 1-3 start. Also, coach Mike Dunleavy and guard Bonzi
Wells were both ejected in a tumultuous fourth quarter.
Wells' tantrum is sure to earn him a fine. Angry over a call, he knocked the ball out of referee Tim Donaghy's hand. After a technical foul was issued, Wells fumed at Donaghy, throwing his headband at him, and had to be restrained by teammates and coaches. As he left the court, he knocked a beverage jug onto fans in the front row at the Rose Garden.
Donaghy also tossed Dunleavy for arguing a no-call after a missed shot by Wallace.
After the game, Portland was more upset over its lethargic start
than the officiating. The Blazers shot just 31 percent in the first
quarter and trailed 30-19.
"We just didn't match their intensity, their energy," said
Scottie Pippen, who had 17 points. "We just had too big of a
deficit to get back into the game."
The Blazers got more bad news when center Arvydas Sabonis left
with an injured left knee midway through the first quarter. It's
the same knee Sabonis had surgery on in October, causing him to
miss the first eight games.
The Sonics led by 22 points late in the second quarter, but
their lead dwindled to eight by the end of the third, after they
made just five of 18 shots in the period.
The Blazers got more aggressive on the offensive glass and
getting to the line. After Stoudamire and Dale Davis hit four
straight free throws, Wells tipped in his own miss to cut it to
76-68 entering the fourth.
Portland was within 91-81 with 4:03 to go when Pippen hit a
3-pointer, but the Sonics got a layup by Patterson and a breakaway
dunk from Brent Barry to push the lead to 95-81.
Vin Baker, reportedly Westphal's biggest headache, slammed a lob
from Payton to make it 100-86. Baker had 10 points.
McMillan had said the only element missing from his team was effort, and in the first quarter the Sonics proved him right. They raced to a 23-9 lead in the first eight minutes and grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the period, to just one for the Blazers.
Portland showed little imagination on offense, especially after
Sabonis stepped on Pippen's foot after blocking a shot. The Blazers
just fired away from the outside, and when most of the shots
missed, Seattle got its fast break going.
Game notes
Payton has led the Sonics in scoring 14 of 16 times. ...
The Blazers had won six straight against the Sonics. ... Seattle
had lost its two previous road games by a combined 51 points. ...
Portland's Shawn Kemp, who left the morning shootaround early to
see a doctor about an upper respiratory infection, played just 11
minutes and scored 2 points.
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NBA Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
Westphal blames Baker, not Payton, for his firing
Sonics fire Westphal, name McMillan interim coach
Hughes: Firing was inevitable, but wrong
Players don't blame Westphal, applaud choice of McMillan
Glove gets love: Sonics reverse Payton suspension
RECAPS
Atlanta 102
Washington 75
Boston 87
Cleveland 72
Milwaukee 102
Miami 101
Utah 98
New Jersey 92
Dallas 107
Toronto 93
Minnesota 96
Chicago 76
Sacramento 88
Houston 81
Seattle 105
Portland 93
LA Lakers 124
Indiana 107
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