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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Seattle SuperSonics are
headed in the right direction after a tumultuous six weeks.
The Sonics, who have overcome a lackluster start and a coaching
change, weathered a furious comeback by the Vancouver Grizzlies
Wednesday night en route to a 94-93 victory.
The victory gave Seattle a .500 record for just the second time
this season and the first time since Nov. 1.
"It was tough to get here," said Seattle coach Nate McMillan after watching Vancouver miss three hots in the final five seconds. "But this was gut-check time. I saw a lot of guys showing a lot of heart out there."
It was the sixth win in nine games for the Sonics since McMillan
replaced Paul Westphal as coach on Nov. 27. The Sonics also won
back-to-back games for the first time this season. Seattle beat
Orlando 97-92 on Tuesday.
The Grizzlies embarrassed the Sonics 94-88 in the opening game
of the season, and the Sonics had dropped three games under. 500
when Westphal was fired.
"Hopefully, we can build on this," said Seattle center Patrick
Ewing. "Our goal is to play with the elite in this league."
Seattle relied on defense to survive Vancouver's last three
possessions. The key defensive play was a block by Emanual Davis
with 1.9 seconds remaining.
Gary Payton led the Sonics with 17 points, but was slowed in the
second half after taking a knee to his left thigh on Vancouver's
final possession of the first half.
"I wasn't sure if Gary was going to come back out," said Davis. "We got together and said 'Hey, our leader is down, everybody has to step up, mostly defensively.' I think we did that."
The Grizzlies, who were the subject of intense criticism in
Vancouver newspapers following a lackluster 82-75 loss to Houston
on Monday, trailed 42-26 midway through the second period.
Vancouver recovered in the second half and assumed an 83-82 lead
with 9:44 to play. However, the Grizzlies were unable to close out
the Sonics.
Sandwiched between Dickerson's miss, Bryant Reeves and Shareef
Abdur-Rahim each had good looks, but failed to convert.
Abdur-Rahim, who missed the second of two foul shots after a
Seattle timeout with 22.3 seconds left, was limited to 14 points.
Mike Bibby led Vancouver with 17 points.
"The guys played their hearts out," Vancouver coach Sidney
Lowe said. "That's the kind of effort we expect."
Game notes
The game marked the fifth straight time this season that
Vancouver lost to an opponent which had played the night previous.
The Sonics were 97-92 winners over Orlando in Seattle on Tuesday.
... Heading into the game, Vancouver was 1-8 in the last nine games
in which it had pulled down fewer than 40 rebounds.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
RECAPS
Chicago 104
Boston 86
Indiana 97
Dallas 92
Philadelphia 102
Washington 82
Charlotte 101
Sacramento 90
Detroit 92
Atlanta 69
Phoenix 103
San Antonio 93
Milwaukee 111
Utah 102
Seattle 94
Vancouver 93
Miami 94
LA Clippers 88
Portland 96
LA Lakers 86
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Mike Bibby Official Site
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