RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME FLOW
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- For the Seattle SuperSonics, success
without trouble just doesn't seem possible this season.
| | Sonics center Patrick Ewing, right tries to strong-arm the Warriors' Antawn Jamison for a rebound.
|
After playing their way into plenty of adversity on Friday
night, two tremendous plays in the final second pulled the Sonics
away from the edge of collapse.
Rashard Lewis dunked with one second left, and Ruben Patterson
blocked Marc Jackson's layup attempt as time expired to give the
Sonics their fourth straight win, a dramatic 107-105 victory over
the Golden State Warriors.
"We got lucky today," said Gary Payton, who had 24 points,
nine rebounds and seven assists while playing in front of family in
his hometown. "We should have beaten this team a little better
than we did."
Seattle blew two fourth-quarter leads and allowed scrappy Golden
State to claw back into the game, but the Sonics hung on to beat
the Warriors for the sixth straight time.
It was just the latest crazy day for the Sonics, who have two
four-game winning streaks in the last three weeks and are somehow
thriving despite troubles with everything from Payton's bad
attitude to Vin Baker's ability to ingest caffeine.
Golden State scored six consecutive points to tie the game at
105 in the final minute, but Mookie Blaylock missed a 3-pointer
with five seconds left. When the Warriors crashed the boards,
Payton grabbed a tipped ball and passed upcourt to Lewis, who
slammed home the last of his 15 points.
"They got a long rebound. It was one of those bounces that
kills you and drives you wacky," Golden State coach Dave Cowens
said.
On the final play, Antawn Jamison lobbed the ball to Jackson
down low, but Patterson flew across the key to block his shot.
"He seemed to come out of nowhere," said Jackson, who had 18
points and 11 rebounds. "It was a great athletic play."
"Once he caught it, I timed my jump and went up when he went to
the glass," Patterson said. "I guess it was a great block."
Brent Barry had a season-high 22 points -- including six
3-pointers -- for the Sonics, who also got 15 from Patterson.
Blaylock had nine of his season-high 23 points in the fourth
quarter and hit five 3-pointers for Golden State, while Jamison had
22 points and 15 rebounds as the Warriors lost for just the second
time in five games.
Though they couldn't finish it, Golden State's stirring
last-minute rally had the Oakland Arena crowd on its feet.
"It was there for us to finish it," said Larry Hughes, who had
16 points and 10 assists while making several big defensive plays.
"One more bounce was all we needed."
Golden State rallied twice in the fourth quarter, first with a
15-5 run that gave the Warriors their first lead with 3:16 left.
After Seattle went up 105-99 with 1:12 left, Blaylock hit a
3-pointer before Hughes stole a pass, hit a layup and converted the
foul shot with 46.8 seconds left.
"They made some big shots and some big plays," Seattle coach
Nate McMillan said. "We just made one play bigger than them.
There's no question we were lucky to get this. We were loose with
the game, and we can't play that way if we want to be close with
the other teams in the Western Conference."
Baker, who was hospitalized in Los Angeles on Wednesday night
after a bad reaction to a caffeinated drink, had eight points and
six rebounds off the bench. Payton, who was suspended for a game
last week after fighting with McMillan, carried on a game-long
conversation with courtside hecklers.
Seattle beat Golden State for the 17th time in their last 19
meetings. The Sonics (25-21) also improved to a season-best four
games over .500.
The Warriors had just nine players in uniform after Friday's
trade that sent Vinny Del Negro to Phoenix for Corie Blount, Paul
McPherson and Ruben Garces.
Game notes
After flirting with returns to the lineup for two weeks,
Adonal Foyle finally came back after missing 19 games with a stress
fracture in his right leg. He had four points. ... The Warriors
served cold sandwiches and potato chips in the pregame buffets in
accordance with California Gov. Gray Davis' call for energy
conservation because of the Golden State's power woes.... Hughes
came off the bench for the second straight game after missing seven
games with a sprained thumb. After he missed a layup with six
minutes left that could have cut Seattle's lead to two, he walked
to the other end of the court and banged his head against the
basket support.
|
|
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Golden State Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 105 Detroit 89
Washington 106 Atlanta 99
Boston 99 Phoenix 83
Houston 106 Vancouver 89
Seattle 107 Golden State 105
LA Lakers 113 New Jersey 101
FROM ATHLETESDIRECT
Antawn Jamison Official Site
|