Sizzling Sonics Outshoot Suns Down Stretch

Balanced Offense and Timely Defense Create Fourth Straight Road Win

Desmond Mason, left, came up big down the stretch with a layup and a block as the Sonics held off Phoenix.

Tonight's game with the Phoenix Suns must have felt like a scrimmage to the Seattle SuperSonics -- after all, they were playing a team that is their mirror image in almost everything but record. Phoenix's roster makeup -- poor big men, star point guard, solid youngsters at small forward and veterans at shooting guard, a power forward who is injury prone and a shell of his former self.
You can add to that inability to close out tight home games down the stretch, which Phoenix demonstrated in a 103-91 loss.
The Sonics have lost five of their last six home games, all of them winnable in the fourth quarter, oddly beating only the Suns. Road games have been a different story; the Sonics brought into tonight's game with a four-game road winning streak, all four games played without injured power forward Vin Baker, who sat out again tonight.
The Sonics controlled the lead and held the game much of the way, but the tide appeared to be turning at the 2:24 mark when Phoenix guard Anfernee Hardaway made a big three pointer to get his team within four at 91-87. Seattle coach Nate McMillan responded with a timeout to try to calm his troops for winning time.
For the second straight game, the Sonics came out of a late timeout with a brilliantly designed play to get a player an open layup. With Brent Barry holding the ball to the left of the top of the key, Desmond Mason rolled off a pick to shake free of his defender. Barry threaded the ball over the top to Mason, who, with his momentum carrying him away from the hoop, was still able to sneak in a finger roll layup to put the Sonics up six. On the other end, Mason came up big again. Hardaway backed Barry deep into the lane and went up for a shot which was promptly expunged by Mason into the waiting hands of Rashard Lewis. With the clock on their side, Seattle leld the ball and went into their offense. As impotent as the halfcourt sets had been just a week ago in KeyArena, they were pure magic tonight. This time, Gary Payton worked himself open for a jumper which slid through the net, perhaps taking the Suns' chances of victory with it.
After the teams traded misses, Phoenix still had some hope holding the ball down eight with 1:17 left in the game. Shawn Marion had a good look at a three pointer which was off. Lewis seemed to have the rebound and game secured on the baseline, but the ball was tipped away and ruled to have gone off of Lewis. The Suns had another shot and again turned to a three, a poor shot by Rodney Rogers under durress that missed everything and fell harmlessly into Mason's lap.
All that was left for Seattle to collect their fifth straight win in unfriendly confines was to make free throws, which they did, with Lewis making four of four and Barry two of two before he put an exclamation point on the game with a steal and slam with 11 seconds left to produce the final 103-91 margin.
Without Baker, the Sonics again found balanced offensive production from a number of offensive sources. Six Seattle players scored double figures, led by the 18 of Barry (efficiently 5 of 8) and Lewis (6 of 16). Lewis added 10 rebounds. Payton, struggling a bit in the second half, scored 16 points on 7 of 17 shooting. Aside from these two, the rest of the team was en fuego, making 28 of 41 shots (68%) as the Sonics shot a sizzling 55% with 94% (16 of 17) at the free throw line.
For the third straight game, Baker's replacements in the middle and the bench were strong factors in the victory. Starting center Jerome James made five of seven shots and scored 10 points, while reserve Peja Drobnjak scored 14 or better for the third straight game, with 15 on 6 of 10 shooting. Mason was solid off the bench, making 5 of 9 shots and scoring 11 points, while Earl Watson sparked the team with his four points and five assists in just 16 minutes off the bench.
Phoenix's offense, on the other hand, was dominated by just three players. Stephon Marbury, who did not start on Sunday because of tardiness, took a game-high 26 shots, making 12 and scoring 28 points while hadning out only four assists. Marion struggled offensively against the Sonics for the second consecutive matchup between the teams, making 8 of 19 and scoring 17 points, but grabbed 16 rebounds as Phoenix dominated Seattle on the boards by a 49-31 count. Reserve Rodney Rogers added 19 points and eight rebounds for Phoenix.
Thanks to hot shooting from the perimeter, the Sonics did not trail during the first quarter, holding a two or three point lead most of the period. An 8-0 Phoenix run put them ahead for the first time all night three and a half minutes into the second quarter, as the Suns' bench lit a fire under the team. Seattle answered right back by making eight consecutive shots. Watson had four assists during the run, with Drobnjak and Long each making two shots and Mason three. The bench-led stretch ended with the Sonics up nine, 50-41. Phoenix came right back with a 15-4 run to close the half with a two point lead.
That advantage dissipated quickly under the heat of the Sonic defense, as Seattle had four straight steals -- Lewis alone three -- to start the half, scoring six points off of them. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter before the Sonics pulled away in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as nine before Phoenix had a final run in them which was still not enough.