Sonics Rock Cleveland in Second Half

Road Winning Streak Stretches to Seven in 20 Point Blowout

Brent Barry, left, provided a solid all-around game on Tuesday night which left him two rebounds from a triple-double.

In the first half, tonight's contest between the Seattle SuperSonics and Cleveland Cavaliers threatened to be a repeat of the teams' first meeting this season, a back-and-forth offensive battle that the Sonics could not put away until Gary Payton made a jumper with seven seconds left to win it, 102-100.
With neither side showing much effort on the defensive side of the floor, both sides shot better than 60% as the Sonics took a slim 62-56 lead to the locker room.
However, the visitors changed all that with defensive intensity that caused four of their 11 steals and held Cleveland to just 17 points in the quarter, leading to a 109-89 blowout victory.
The effort looked to be going for naught as a late-period Cleveland run cut down the Sonics' lead from double-digits, and the Cavs had a chance to get within five on a Wesley Person three pointer with 1:20 left in the quarter. The shot was off, and the Sonics closed the period strong. Gary Payton, who was brilliant offensively with 25 points on 11 of 16 shooting and eight assists, followed Person's miss with a baseline jumper. Then, as the quarter came to an end, Earl Watson recovered a loose ball near halfcourt and fed Payton at the top of the key, who beat the buzzer with a three to give the Sonics a commanding 13 point lead after three quarters.
Seattle extinguished any lingering Cavalier hopes of a rally by again stepping up the defensive intensity. Cleveland scored just once in the final period's first five minutes as the Sonics extended the lead to 18, giving Coach Nate McMillan the chance to rest his starters -- Payton playing an uncharacteristically 32 minutes, Rashard Lewis just 23 -- in preparation for tomorrow night's game with Atlanta.
The win gave the Sonics their longest road winning streak since George Karl left as coach after the 1997-98 season, and the fifth-longest in team history. Three of the longer streaks came during Karl's seven year tenure in Seattle, with the other under Lenny Wilkens. The Sonics also advanced to a season-best five games above .500 at 31-26 and went above the halfway point on the road, where they are now 15-14.
As they have throughout their 6-1 run since Vin Baker was sidelined by dislocated toes, the Sonics got strong efforts from their guards and the bench. In addition to Payton's heroics, backcourt-mate Brent Barry shook off a slow first half (just one shot and three points) to approach a triple-double with 16 points (his third straight game with four three-pointers), 11 assists, and 8 rebounds.
Seattle's reserves combined for 39 points, with the lion's share coming from second-year swingman Desmond Mason and rookie big man Peja Drobnjak. Mason scored 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting in 33 minutes, while Drobnjak took advantage of foul trouble to starting center Jerome James in rebounding from three poor games with 15 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Drobnjak scored 13 of his points in the first half, helping the Sonics match Cleveland score for score.
The Cavs were similarly led by their guards and bench, although point guard Andre Miller had an off night with just nine points and nine assists. Person scored 22 points, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ricky Davis came off the bench to score 16 and 10, respectively. Ilgauskas added seven rebounds, Davis nine assists.
Despite their sharp shooting in the first half, Cleveland ended up making just 46% from the field and a disappointing 25% from beyond the arc despite being one of the league's better three-point shooting teams. Turnovers really did them in on offense, however, as under Sonic defensive duress they gave it up 21 times; the Sonics were also able to conver these turnovers into fast break opportunities on the other end.
Although the game was close throughout the first half, Cleveland never held the lead. The Sonics opened up a moderate-sized lead midway through the first quarter, but were unable to put any real distance between themselves and the Cavaliers until the second half.