With some squinting and a little creative imagination, last night's Chicago Bulls-Seattle SuperSonics matchup in KeyArena could have been just another in the teams' long line of great clashes in the mid-1990's.

That wasn't Ron Artest shaking the defense of Gary Payton to nail a seemingly endless litany of off-balance jumpers, it was Michael Jordan. It wasn't A.J. Guyton taking Artest's feeds to make uncontested three pointers during a fourth quarter comeback, it was Steve Kerr or John Paxson. Horace Grant was clearing the glass and dominating the blocks, not Brad Miller. Bill Cartwright was replaced on the sideline by Phil Jackson in a trade of lanky coaches.

But when your eyes open and the memories fade, what's left is a nine win Chicago team, playing without three starters, coming into KeyArena and upending the Sonics. A week ago, Seattle was widely considered a strong playoff contender in the west, but a week spent watching one nightmare game after another, blowing three second half leads, the Sonics find themselves on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

In hindsight, Seattle's slow start to the game should have been an ominous sign. Despite the fact that KeyArena was fairly full, the stadium was eerily quiet in the early going, with Sonic faithful seemingly waiting for the inevitable 20 point lead. It didn't come in the first quarter, with Artest's potent perimeter play giving Chicago the lead most of the period before the Sonics woke up for a late-quarter rally to take a four point lead, 22-18.

In the second quarter, both sides seemed to be sleepwalking in front of a silent crowd, with neither able to take control of the game's momentum or put together a run of any significance. Chicago did go ahead near the end of the half, taking a four point lead to the break, heady stuff for a team which had won only one road game. Fortunately, Sonic announcer Vic Orlando did not ask fans to, "Give [the Sonics] a little something for the effort," while they trailed the lowly Bulls, as a riot may have ensued.

With some of their youngsters, Earl Watson, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Peja Drobnjak in the game, the Sonics put the clamps down on Chicago's offense, holding the Bulls to only 12 points in the third quarter. Most of the damage was done in the final five minutes, with a long run utilizing Payton and Vin Baker on offense giving the Sonics a seemingly-comfortable 13-point lead heading to the final period of play. A blowout seemed imminent.

Instead, behind the outside play of guard A.J. Guyton, the Bulls rallied. 13 of Guyton's 15 points came in the final period, and he and rookie Trenton Hassell opened the final period with back-to-back threes to cut the Sonic lead to a more manageable seven. The Bulls slowly wore down the lead over the first four minutes of the quarter before going on an extended run which put them in front. The Sonics could not coutner, and Chicago pushed the lead as large as 10 with five minutes left.

Behind a lineup of second year man Guyton (a second round pick), rookie Hassell (second rounder), third year man Artest, sophomore Marcus Fizer, and fourth-year 'veteran' Miller (a third second rounder), the Bulls were suddenly on track to blowout the Sonics in a man-bites-dog twist of fate.

At this point, however, Seattle finally deemed the Bulls a threat and decided they had better exert some energy. Two Baker scores inside sandwiched a Brent Barry three as the Sonics went on a 7-1 run to cut the lead down to four with possession. Then the same turnovers and lack of intensity which had plagued the Sonics all night returned, and they were incapable of stopping Chicago on the other end.

The Sonics were within five after another Barry three when they were unable to grab two defensive rebounds on a Chicago possession inside the final minutes. The Bulls retrieved the ball, knocked down two free throws, and sealed a 97-91 upset for only their second road victory of the season.

Payton was harassed all night by Artest, an excellent and physical defender who honed his skills this past summer against Michael Jordan in Chicago-area pickup games. Artest was credited with eight steals, most of them in defense of Payton, who emerged thanks to generous scoring with just three turnovers to his (dis)credit. Payton made just 4 of 11 shots, but made his presence felt with 13 of 17 from the free throw line. The Sonics got a good second half from Baker, who seems incapable of stringing together back-to-back good halves but still had a solid 23 points and 8 rebounds.