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Sonics Get to the Point Down Stretch
Payton, With Help from Mason and Lewis, Outduels Kidd in Battle of Oakland Guards
By SonicsKevin
Desmond Mason, left, provided the Sonics a potent scoring threat off the bench, scoring 21 points.
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Dating back to their youth in Oakland, Gary Payton and Jason Kidd have been fierce competitors on the
basketball court. The situation is no different now that both are NBA stars, but the stakes are much
higher, as each team looks to their point guard for leadership and clutch play down the stretch. Tonight,
Payton -- with a little help from young teammates Desmond Mason and Rashard Lewis -- was equal to the
task, while Kidd and company went ice cold from the field down the stretch as the Seattle Supersonics
finished the night on a 7-0 run inside the final minute which gave them their fourth straight win, 96-90,
over the New Jersey Nets.
After an abnormally long rest, Payton re-entered the game for backup Shammond Williams with 4:13 left in the fourth quarter and the Sonics clinging to the slimmest of leads, 82-81. The teams exchanged baskets before Kidd responded to Payton's entry with his biggest basket of the night, a three pointer from the left elbow that gave New Jersey an 86-84 lead with 2:49 left. However, Net foward Kenyon Martin was called for a loose ball foul on the play for shoving Mason to the ground. Mason, who was the hero of Thursday's Seattle win over Charlotte, when he tipped in a Payton miss at the buzzer to send the game to overtime, made both free throw attempts to deadlock the game. Kidd then looked to his primary offensive weapon, the pass, lobbing the ball to Martin for an alley-oop dunk that briefly quieted the sellout crowd and put New Jersey back ahead by two. Art Long made one of two free throws for the Sonics after a favorable loose ball foul call, and after a Martin miss, Mason loomed large again by drilling a 20-foot jumper from the left baseline to give the Sonics an 89-88 lead. However, the Seattle trapping defense broke down on the next possession, allowing rookie Net center Jason Collins to hit Keith Van Horn for a dunk that put the Nets back on top temporarily; it would be their final score. Lewis was fouled and made both free throws to put the Sonics back on top with a minute left, 91-90, leading the point guards to finally go mano e mano. Kidd missed a makeable jumper near the top of the key, and Payton would not be denied on the other end, beating Kidd with a drop step move to the baseline for a layup and a three point lead with 34 seconds left. After a timeout, New Jersey got the look they wanted, an open three for Van Horn, but he missed and who else but Payton would be there for his second straight defensive rebound. Kidd was forced to foul, and Payton's free throw made it a two possession game. The Nets missed two more attempts, including a Kidd three, before Payton and Mason ran out, with the former sending the ball high in the air for the latter to slam through to officially send the Nets back to New Jersey with an 0-4 record on their West coast trip. In the end, thanks to tight refereeing, the game's outcome largely rested on performance from the free throw line. Free throws were a significant part of the Sonics' fourth quarter offense, with them attempting 10 and making eight. Largely because of Collins' struggles, the Nets made only half of their 14 second-half free throw tries, a fact which loomed large in a close ballgame. Part of the reason both teams went to the line so much was because of the fact that Seattle tried to take the fast break away from New Jersey, one of the league's fastest-paced teams. They were successful in slowing down the game, as the two teams were officially credited with only 13 fast break points combined. Payton, who leads the NBA in minutes played, was a beneficiary of not only the slower pace but also playing just 35 minutes, which allowed him to be fresh for his end-game heroics, whereas Kidd, who played 39 and has had a tough road trip, looked more sluggish. Payton came into the game in a severe shooting slump, but made a respectable 9 of 20 shots for his 21 points, adding eight assists. Kidd was virtually no factor with his shooting, making 3 of 10 tries and scoring only eight points while dishing out 10 assists, only two of those in the second half, as the Sonics made necessary adjustments. The rest of the Nets shot almost as poorly as Kidd, making only 41% from the field and staying in the game largely on the strength of avoiding turnovers (only eight) and offensive rebounds (13). These two stats allowed New Jersey to attempt 15 shots more than the Sonics. The only Net to make at least 50% from the field was reserve Lucious Harris, who scored 12 points on 5 of 10. On the other end, the Sonics got strong contributions from their swingmen to make up for the absence of yet another interior player. Vladimir Radmanovic, the Sonics' replacement for Vin Baker at power forward, will miss at least a week with a severely sprained toe, forcing Nate McMillan to start Art Long and Jerome James together in the frontcourt for the third time this season (the Sonics have won all three such games). Mason was the main bench threat, scoring 21 points on sizzling 8 of 11 shooting. He was so hot that even when he had to throw up a prayer three attempt with the shot clock running down after picking up a loose ball, Mason swished his first triple in over a week. Rashard Lewis was also stellar, scoring 20 points. Thanks to the size provided by the James-Long duo, the Sonics, normally awful on the boards, managed to outrebound New Jersey. In 24 minutes, James cleaned the glass with eight rebounds, and Brent Barry soared in from the perimeter to provide 10, all on the defensive end. Just as they had on Tuesday night against Minnesota, Seattle came out afire from the field, leading by 10 points early in the first quarter. The Nets chipped away at this deficit, eventually taking the lead late in the second quarter. The game was close from that point out, although it appeared the Sonics might run away with things after a 6-0 run late in the third quarter that saw Mason and Lewis drop back-to-back threes to excite the crowd.
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