After three straight blowout losses on the road, the Seattle Supersonics put themselves in a position to win tonight as they played the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills. This time, the mistakes that have meant the Sonics trailed by at least double digits by halftime of each of those three games turned up down the stretch, as the Sonics fumbled away a chance at victory, losing 95-91.

Jerry Stackhouse's three pointer from the corner with two minutes left tied the game at 90 apiece. On the Sonics' next possession, forward Vin Baker was fouled and went to the free throw line for two shots. He missed both, missing an opportunity to give the Sonics the lead. After a stop, rookie Vladimir Radmanovic was sent to the line. He too missed the first attempt, but hit the second to give the Sonics back the lead with 1:01 left in regulation.

The Pistons worked the ball to Corliss Williamson in the post, defended by Baker. He went up for a shot and had the ball deflected away by Baker. However, Williamson came up with the ball again and laid it in to give Detroit the lead as Sonic coaches protested vehomently that a jump ball should have been called. After a conference, the referees decided that the basket would stand. The Sonics still trailed by just one, with possession and 45 seconds left. However, Vin Baker panicked and hurried a poor 20-foot jumper which, unsurprisingly, was off. After Detroit grabbed the rebound and began moving upcourt, the Sonics made a second crucial mental mistake. Brent Barry, thinking that the Pistons would have been able to run out the clock, fouled Detroit guard Chucky Atkins intentionally with 25 seconds left. Fortunately, Atkins is just a 57.1% shooter from the free throw line, and missed the second shot.

The Sonics had the ball down two with 25 seconds left, and a solid chance of tying the game or even taking the lead. The Sonics started out by attempting to use Gary Payton in the post. However, Payton faced stiff defense from Piston forward Michael Curry, and was forced to work the ball to Radmanovic. The rookie drove and looked to pass the ball to Baker, who fumbled it away. Stackhouse recovered the ball in the corner, and hit two free throws after being fouled by Radmanovic to clinch the game.

With the Sonics attempting to rebuild, it would be easy to chalk up the loss to youth. However, Radmanovic, who is 20, was the only young player on the court down the stretch, and he did a reasonably good job on the final play. Instead, it was Baker and Barry who made plays befitting of rookies. Coach Nate McMillan also cannot be held blameless. His decision to leave offensive question mark Art Long in the lineup on the final play, as opposed to a good shooter like Peja Drobnjak or Shammond Williams, was iffy at best.

In the first quarter, it looked as if a play in the closing seconds would be of little concern to the Sonics, as they came out with perhaps their strongest first quarter performance of the season. Before Detroit could blink, the Sonics took a 7-0 lead, and used domination on the glass and good ball movement, along with stifling defense, to hold a 27-17 lead after one quarter.

Detroit went to the bench in the second quarter, and got solid play out of both Jon Barry and Williamson. All told, the Piston bench scored 25 of their 30 second quarter points, while the Seattle offense went cold, allowing Detroit to get back into the game. A Barry jumper at the buzzer cut the Sonic lead to just 2 at the half.

The third quarter was the Chucky Atkins show. Last season's starter, Atkins only regained his role at the point after an injury to former Sonic Dana Barros. He made his case to play with 5 three pointers in the third quarter alone, helping the Pistons to take a 2 point lead after three.

Detroit extended the lead as far as 7 in the early part of the fourth quarter, but Barry gave the Sonics a lead of one with 4:15 left when he hit a three. A Payton jumper the next trip down gave the Sonics a three point lead, but they quickly relinqushed that on the Stackhouse three, setting up a wild finish that was ultimately fruitless for the Sonics.

The game was memorable even before the final minutes, however. For the Sonics, Payton recorded the 13th regular season triple-double of his 12-year career. Despite shooting poorly, Payton had 21 points, 15 boards, and 12 assists. On the Detroit side, a team record was set with 32 three pointers attempted, of which the Pistons made 9. Individually, Stackhouse set a career high with 11 assists as he overcame a poor shooting night.

Rashard Lewis was tied with Payton for the team lead with 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting. He added 6 rebounds, but fouled out with five minutes left in the game. Barry had 14 of his 17 points (on 5 of 10 shooting) in the second half, as he came alive to keep the Sonics in the game. Radmanovic had 11 points on excellent 4 of 5 shooting, including 2 of 2 from beyond the arc.

Atkins led Detroit with 23 points on 7 of 13 shooting, including an astounding 6 of 10 from three. Despite shooting just 1 of 11 from three point range, and 5 of 15 overall, Stackhouse had 19 points in addition to his 11 assists. Williamson had 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting, and added 7 rebounds in 26 minutes. Barry had 11 points, all of them in the second quarter.

Notes:
Sonic center Calvin Booth had a night to forget. In 8 minutes, he picked up 5 fouls and had 4 turnovers. He did have 4 points and 4 boards ... Baker also struggled with foul trouble in the first half, shot 3-8 from the field, 0-4 from the line, and had 6 points ... all told, the Sonics had 30 personal fouls and two technicals ... the Sonics had an almost inconceivable 13 turnovers in the first half, and 21 for the game ... on the Detroit side, Clifford Robinson was a miserable 2-11 for 5 points and also fouled out, though he did have 7 rebounds.

SC.com Player of the Game: By virtue of his triple-double, this award goes to Gary Payton for the first time in a while.

Mason Injured